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MANUAL 



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CHILD CLASSICS 
PRIMER 



EBADIS^G "WITH 
EXPRESSION 



BY 



MES. E. E. OLCOTT 



THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 

_ ^INDIANAPOLIS 



MANUAL 



rOR THE 



CHILD CLASSICS PRIMER 



READING WITH EXPRESSION 



MRS. E. E. OLCOIT 



THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 

INDIANAPOLIS 
1913 



P'¥ 



COPYRIGHT 191 3 

BY 

THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 



©CI.A346238 



FOREWORD. 

*'Why do a boy's hands blister so much quicker on a 
hoe-handle than on a baseball bat?" 

Because dislike of the task on the one hand makes 
him expect the blister before it comes, and delight in the 
game on the other, leaves him unconscious of the blister 
when it does arrive! 

To boy winners in great corn-growing contests, hoe- 
handles become as baseball bats! 

The purpose of this Manual is to help teachers to 
transform hoe-handles into baseball bats, by arousing in 
pupils that interest in reading which turns work into 
play; the sort of interest which the Child Classics series 
makes it not only possible but easy to secure. 

Thanks are due to Miss Lena Board of Jeffersonville, 
Indiana, and to Miss Estelle Fisher and Miss Georgia 
Alexander, of Indianapolis, Indiana, for much kind 
assistance and many helpful suggestions. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS 
Part I 

PAGE 

The New Path 7 

What Is Reading? 10 

"Thought" and "Words" 11 

Mastering Words 12 

Devices 14 

Word and Phonic Drill Cards 23 

Alphabet Song 27 

Getting Thought 29 

Reading from the Blackboard. 

- Suggestive Lesson I. John and Kate 31 

Suggestive Lesson IL Carlo and Kitty 35 

Suggestive Lesson IIL Action Words 37 

Suggestive Lesson IV. See 39 

Suggestive Lesson V. I like 40 

Suggestive Lesson \l. The Analysis of the Sen- 
tence 41 

Suggestive Lesson VI L Construction of New 

Sentences 42 

Suggestive Lesson VIII. Roll the Ball 43 

Reading from the Book. 

Finding Pictures, etc 46 

Reading the Lesson 48 

Dramatizing. 

The Nursery Rhymes 50 

5 



Part II 

Phonics. 

Oral Drills (^1 

Sound and Symbol H 

Automatic Recognition of Words ^^ 

Phonics and Thought-Work 8i 



Manual 

for the 

Child Classics Primer 

PART I 

THE NEW PATH 

The children were possessed with the amusing illusion 
that having now grown to the proper size, they knew 
how to write, just as they had, when the strength came 
to them, been able to walk and to talk. — Dr. Maria 
Monte ssori. 

To teach so that children will believe they can read 
merely because they are now big enough; so that they 
learn to read as naturally, easily and eagerly as they 
learn to talk — that is the psychological secret that many 
are seeking to discover. 

Dr. Montessori seems to have found the secret for 
Italian children of kindergarten age. 

McClure's Magazine says: ''For more than two years 
she taught the feeble-minded children from the asylums 
of Rome . . . Idiots sent to her from the public 
asylums she taught to read and write so that they could 
pass the same examinations that normal children of their 
age were expected to pass at the public schools 
'The secret', she says, 'was simple. It was that the boys 
from the asylum had followed a (liferent path from that 



pursued in the public schools . . . While every one 
was admiring the progress of my idiots, I was meditating 
on the reasons that could keep happy and healthy common 
school children on so low a level that my unhappy pupils 
were able to stand beside them.' " 

Many besides Dr. Montessori have been meditating 
to a good purpose, and the more who meditate and com- 
pare their thoughts and experiences, the sooner that 
psychological path will be found. 

"There may be two straight roads to a town, 
One over, one under the hill." 

Teachers have been taking the children over the hill 
and have found it a strength wasting climb; now they 
are seeking for the "level road," so that the energy 
wasted in learning to read may be spent in reading. 

Children learn to talk because they want to talk. 
"Make them want to read and they will read 
Take them to a bock as to a person who has a story to 
tell," says Dr. S. H. Clark. He might have added: 
"Give them a primer that is a picture book and story 
book combined in which children talk to each other 
about things that all children like, and they will want 
to read." 

Many Methods Better Than One 

Every method has some especially good points which 
serve to supplement other methods. Indeed, it may be 
said that every method came into existence because of 
a recognized need. So every method is a step, more or 
less direct, toward that level road, that psychological 
path, which makes reading as easy as talking. 

It is well, therefore, for each teacher to fashion her 
own method by interweaving as many methods as she 
can skilfully adapt to each other. 



Dr. Montessori says: ''Discipline through Hberty . . . 
such a concept of active discipline is not easy either to 
comprehend or to attain; but certainly it contains a 
great educational principle." 

So an ever-growing method of her own, made up of 
many methods by the individual teacher herself, may 
not be "easy either to comprehend or to attain, but 
certainly it contains a great educational principle." 

It is not easy to attain the life-giving variety afforded 
by blending many methods, and yet avoid confusion, 
but life and "freedom" lead toward Dr. Montessori's 
auto-education. 

The Child Classics Primer and First Reader are super- 
latively good as basal readers, because while excellent and 
complete in their own method, they yet lend themselves 
readily to a blending of methods, and so appeal both to 
those who are teaching their first term, and to those w^ho 
have taught for years. 

The author says: "Every experienced teacher has and 
should have her own individual way by which she can 
teach better than any other. The following is but one 
w^ay by which reading may be taught." But she has so 
planned that one way that every experienced teacher 
may w^ell make it a part of her own individual method, 
and every young teacher may take it just as it is for 
her method until experience modifies it to fit even more 
perfectly her special needs. 

The Child Classics Primer — so planned that the child 
reader is one w4th the children in the story; that his 
whole business is getting and giving thought; that he 
looks not only at the words but through them; and that 
he, through its 80 per cent, of phonetic words, is helped 
to become happily self reliant — this Primer Is a long 
step toward that "new path" In which Dr. Montessori 
assures us the children will largely teach themselves. 



WHAT IS READING? 

Is reading mere word calling or is it interpreting 
thought? Suit was brought in a city in Massachusetts to 
settle that question. There was a law that children 
should not be permitted to work in factories unless they 
could read. This especially affected the foreign popu- 
lation. The employers organized night schools; children 
were drilled till they could pronounce words glibly, then 
entered the factories. The superintendent of schools 
contended that the children could 7iot read because they 
got no more thought from calling the words on a page 
in a reader than they did from pronouncing the columns 
of "words on a page in a spelling book. The matter was 
taken to court for settlement. 

Oddly enough mistakes in reading may show either 
that a child has not grasped the thought, or prove that 
he has done so. To illustrate: The sentence,''This is 
a worm, do not step on it/' was mechanically read by a 
''word calling" boy, "This is a warm doughnut, step on 
it;" while a sentence in which a mother rat warned her 
young son, saying, "That is a trap, do not use it," was 
spiritedly rendered by a thought-getting child, "That is 
a trap, do not monkey with it!" 

He certainly knew what the mother rat meant. And 
the correction given him should be very different from 
that accorded the careless boy who would contentedly 
step on a warm doughnut. 

True reading then is grasping the thought even though 
the words may be miscalled. 



10 



"THOUGHT" AND "WORDS" 

There are two phases of teaching reading which should 
be clearly recognized, and in a measure kept distinct. 
They are: 

1. Mastering the words; 

2. Interpreting the thought; 
or they may be called 

1. Studying the lesson with the teacher; 

2. Reading the lesson. 

Thought is the end and words only the means. In 
practice, however, mastering words virtually comes first, 
because though the child may read sentences taught as 
wholes, he must know the individual words before he 
can read for himself new sentences made by rearranging 
words found in the sentences he has been taught. 

This fact leads to two avoidable results: one, the 
children and unwary teachers mistake fluent calling of 
words for reading; the other, that pupils who are not 
fluent read perceptibly word b}' word. They see only 
one word at a time, pronounce it and then look at the 
next. This habit becomes fixed and even when they 
grasp the thought they read jerkily, saying: 

"How do you do, John," in much the same tone in 
which they w^ould pronounce: 

"Do , how^ , you , John , do." 

To avoid these results, the child from his earliest 
lessons in the Primer class, should unconsciously feel 
that when he is getting and giving thought he is reading 
and when he is learning new words in order to find out 
what the sentence means, he is studying. 

The difference is somewhat akin to that between 
"playing" a piece of music and "practising" that same 
piece in order to play it well. 

A child never thinks w^hen he is practising an exercise 
on the piano that he is "playing a piece!" 

II . 



Therefore, practising on words and phrases is studying; 
don't ever call it reading, call it 'Vord-study." 

Phonics is a subdivision of mastering words. It is so 
vitally important that it should be given a separate 
recitation period. 

Phonics itself has subdivisions. 

Understanding phonics makes the child able to master 
words by himself; knowing words enables him to get the 
thought; and getting the thought and giving it correctly 
is reading — the end sought. 

There should be, then, three kinds of reading lessons 
every day; if possible twice a day: 

1. Mastering the words; 

2. Getting the thought; 

3. Phonics. 

1. Mastering words is emphasized in those methods 
called the Rhyme and Word Methods. 

2. Getting the thought is the chief element in those 
known as the Sentence, Thought, Action, and Dramatic. 

3. Phonics is of course the basis of the Phonetic 
Method; in one of its phases especially, it is called the 
Synthetic; there is also the Inductive Phonetic Plan. 

Each and all of these methods may easily be adapted 
to fit the Child Classics series. Therefore, teachers who 
are familiar with any one of them may continue its use 
when teaching: the Primer. 



MASTERING WORDS 

^'Children are bruised, maimed, crippled for life in 
reading by stumbling and falling over hard words," said 
a lecturer. 

Problem: How to teach so the children will sturdily 
climb but rarely stumble or fall? 

12 



Every word has form, meaning and sound (pronun- 
ciation); any one of these should suggest the other two. 
The child already knows the pronunciation and meaning of 
many words, his chief task now is to master the form. The 
mastery is complete when the recognition of the form and 
pronunciation is automatic and the child is conscious 
only of the meaning. 

Automatic recognition rests upon two laws of mind: 

1. Intensity of attention deepens the impression. 

2. Attentive repetition fixes the impression. 

Briefly stated: Interest, attention, review. More 
briefly: Drill! But drill, not drudgery. Weary, dreary 
repetition is time lost. 

A child gains little or nothing by mechanically saying 
(or thinking) w^ords over and over again. He must be 
interested and feel the need of pronouncing them. He 
must wish to pronounce them quickly, to find them 
among other words, to use them in oral or written sen- 
tences, to draw pictures of them, and thus make them 
his very own. 

To arouse such a wish is really not very difficult, for 
children naturally like to use words. Note how they love 
to talk! 

One of the teachers sent by Columbia University to 
Rome to study the Alontessori Method, said that in the 
teaching of reading in the Montessori schools she was 
deeply impressed by the children's pleasure in the mere 
process, that is, they learned words not only for the 
thought in them but for the joy of learning. 

Dr. Holmes in his introduction to Dr. Alontessori's 
book calls attention to this love of process. He points 
out that a baby enjoys tucking cards under the edge of 
a rug just for the pleasure of tucking them under; a 
child a bit older fills a pail with sand, not because he 
wants the sand but for the joy of pouring it in; for the 

13 



same reason an older boy likes to skip smooth stones 
along the surface of water just for the fun of making them 
skip. 

So children wisely taught will enjoy practising on 
w^ords because of the lively practice. The secret lies 
largely in a variety of interesting devices, for devices 
often turn the current of the children's energy in the 
desired direction. 

DEVICES 

Good devices are the application of principles. It is 
wise, therefore, to follow 

"the good old plan, 
Keep all you get and get all you can." 

Many devices are integral parts of lesson plans and 
appear elsewhere in the Manual. Here are gathered 
some special ones which have as their aim automatic 
recognition of words. Most of them may be used both 
for sight words and for phonic drills. 

Pictures instead of Words 

''For seat work make original, pictures illustrating the 
lessons," suggests the Primer, page 96. 

To this may be added, use pictures instead of words 
to increase the vocabulary and interest in the early 
lessons. 

This plan will multiply the number of sentences which 
may be made with a small stock of words. There is no 
limit to the number except the teacher's ability to draw. 
The pictures used here are purposely so very simple that 
no teacher need hesitate to attempt them on the black- 
board, and every child will like to copy them. 

Some teachers prefer not to place a , an , or the , 

■ u 




before the pictures at first, thus leaving the child free to 
use whichever occurs to him. Other teachers introduce 
them at once, merely telling the child what they are. 
Both ways are illustrated here. 

It is better not to have a sentence begin with a picture, 
as. 



can run. 



A or the may be used for the first word even when not 
employed in the body of the sentences. 

The use of pictures may begin with the second lesson 
in the Primer. 

The following sentences are placed here for convenience. 
They are really a part of some of the Suggestive Lessons 
and a few will appear in that connection. Onl}^ words 
found in the first five lessons in the Primer are used, 
except no which is taught in connection with yes 

See Carlo. 




Run. 




IS 



See 




run 



Roll 




John. 



Roll my ball, Kate. 



I can roll 




See the 



See the 



i6 



See the 



7 



I like K^J' 



Do you 1 



"'^ 



No, I like 




Kate likes 



w^fm 



^if 



ax 



John likes 







17 



I like 



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f 

h 



s^ffii^'!^- 



Carlo can run. 

(1 



My 



:j 



can run. 



Run. 



) 



rum 



I see 




(a nest in the tree) 



I see 



11 



(the rocking 
chair by the 
table) 



JX 



I see 



(a cup on a table) 



i8 



Colored chalk adds to the attractiveness and to the 
length of the sentence. The child may then read: 
Kate likes a red wagon. 
John likes a green wheelbarrow. 
I like a white sailboat. 

Climbing the Ladder and Flag Pole 

bo- .?o j:J- 



^-^oCoD) 




The tree may bear any kind of fruit, red apples, or 
cherries, yellow oranges, or purple plums. Each child 
who climbs the ladder by pronouncing the words correctly 
may choose an apple, his initial being written beside 
the one he selects. 

Sometimes the child chooses the apple first and then 
tries to bring it down the ladder. If he fails, his initial 
is erased. 






^l.L 



To prevent memorizing the order in which the words 
occur, a second ladder may be placed on the other side 
of the tree, the same words differently arranged being 



19 



used. Going up and down the ladders changes the order 
of the words four times. 

Each child who climbs the flag pole has his initial 
written on the flag. 

Taking a Ride 

Those children may ride in a wheelbarrow, a wagon 
or a sailboat who can climb a hill or stairs, or go down 
steps to the boat landing. 

In each case the way thither is paved with words. 
Sometimes the children must buy a ticket for the ride 
and the pennies are words. 

When a child has bought his ticket, he may ride in or 
on any part of the vehicle he pleases; and the sails of the 
boat are a favorite perch. 

Be economical, use one drawing at a time and as long 
as it interests, changing to something else just before 
"the new wears off." 



Playing Croquet 

Draw the wickets (semi-circles) on the blackboard 
as for the outdoor game. Write two words on each 
wicket through which the ball must pass twice, i. e., the 
"basket" and the wickets leading directly to the stakes. 
Write one word for each side wicket and by each stake. 
This gives sixteen different words; or eleven may be used 
by placing only one word by each stake and wicket, 
writing the hardest ones for double practice where the 
ball passes twice. 

The player may be allowed to go all the way round 
without stopping (if he can without missing a word); 
or the rule may be to stop at certain wickets and wait 
his turn again. 

20 



There may be a relay race. Suppose there are sixteen 
words and eight children. Choose four on a side; the 
iirst side starts, and if possible goes all the way round, 
each child pronouncing four words. If any one misses, 
the next must begin where that one left off, then of course 
the ball falls as far short of the stake as there are words 
missed. When the four on the first side have each pro- 
nounced four words (or less), the second side begins. 
When the words are hard each side may have to try two 
or three times before the last stake is reached. 

Wherever the player stops his ball marks the place, 
the ball may be his initial or a drawing of a certain color 
assigned him. In a relay race there are but two balls. 

The Stepping Stones 

Draw two wavy lines for the banks of creek. Draw 
stepping stones (with words beside them) diagonally from 
one bank to the other. 

Draw bright colored flowers on the farther side. If 
a child misses a word he gets his feet wet; if he passes 
over dry shod he may pick a flower. 

The Race 

Write a list of words in a column on the board. 

Teacher: Let's have a race. Jean and Joyce may 
start. See which of you can tell me the words the quickest. 
One, two, three! 

(Away they go, both naming the words as fast as they 
can. The teacher or class announces the winner, or a 
judge may be appointed. If the race is ^xry close, it is 
wisest for the teacher to decide; when there is no doubt 
who came out first the children name the victor.) 

The winner stands apart from the class. 

21 



Another two (or even three) then race, until six or 
eight have named the words. Then give the next six 
or eight a different Hst until all have been tested. Each 
winner steps over b}^ the first victor. 

At the close of the recitation, the winners may all 
skip or run swiftly around the room once or twice, or 
occasionally be given the following reward: 

Teacher: Now the race is over. The winners may 
do anything they want for one minute. (Such fun! 
Some rush for the school toys, and play with a doll, roll 
a ball, toss a bean bag, or spin a top; some draw on the 
board, or run to 'S^isit" at some friend's desk, just for 
one joyous minute. A few spend the whole time de- 
ciding what to do.) 

Jack Horner's Pie 

On the blackboard, draw a pie, a large circle will serve 
the purpose. Fill it with words. 

Teacher: Here is Jack Horner's pie. You may 
draw out some plums. Put your thumb on any word 
you choose, if you can pronounce it, it is your plum and 
you may take it (erase it). (One by one the children 
take plums. If time is limited the teacher erases.) 

Sometimes instead of a picture, the pie is a bowl or 
box on the teacher's desk. The plums are slips of paper 
on which words have been written or printed. 

First Reader pupils or even Second B's draw out plums 
which are harder. They draw out slips bearing com- 
mands: *^Open the door;" "Look out of the window;" 
''Jump over the candlestick." 

Each draws out a plum. All silently study the sentences 
a few moments, then one by one they do what their 
plums tell them. 

Th^ sentences on page 20 in the Primer may be so 
used. 

22 



This is very similar to a plan used by Dr. Montessori. 
But she wouldn't call it a pie! 

Word and Phonetic Drill Cards 

Among all the devices for thorough, quick, interesting 
drill none equals word cards. They serve the double 
purpose of presenting new words and reviewing those 
previously given. The large clear t^^pe that can easily 
be seen across the room aids greatly in the transition from 
blackboard lessons to those in the Primer. 

When a new word is presented, it should usually be 
shown first on the word card (because the print on the 
card is more like that in the Primer than any words print- 
ed by hand could possibly be), then placed on the black- 
board. 

For class drill hold the cards face toward the class, and 
call upon each child in turn for the new word shown to 
him. Make the drill brisk. As words are printed on 
both sides of the cards the pack may be held in either 
of two ways: First, it may be vertical, the lower edge 
resting on the fingers of the left hand; as the child pro- 
nounces the word on the "front" card, the teacher deftly 
lifts it over to the back (next to her) thus revealing a new 
word. In this case the children first pronounce the words 
on one side of the card, then the pack is turned and they 
pronounce those on the other side. When using the 
second way, the pack is almost horizontal, the left edge 
held between the first and second fingers of the left hand. 
The teacher taking the "top" card b}^ the middle of its 
lower edge, can by a turn of the wrist show each side of 
the card clearly and then slip it under the pack. 

The words may be placed on the blackboard ledge and 
individual children asked to get particular cards. Or 
the whole class may recite at once, all of the children 
running to the board, every one quickly selecting a word 

23 



he knows, showing It to the teacher, pronouncing it and 
then running back for another card. The child may be 
allowed to keep the card if he pronounces the word on one 
side or he may have to part w^ith it unless he knows both 
words. 

For a small class who had been in school less than a 
wxek, a teacher scattered on a table the cards bearing 
the words they had learned and told the children to bring 
to her the words they knew. 

She had duplicated the words on manila cardboard, 
as suggested in the Primer, page 93, so there were several 
copies of each word. It was interesting to watch children 
who had attended school only four days. 

Some instantly recognized any word and ran quickly 
to and fro taking cards to the teacher, others picked up 
cards, looked at them doubtfully, and laid them aside for 
others which they felt sure of. 

The race (previously described) played with word 
cards instead of words on the blackboard is very effective. 
A long line of cards on the blackboard ledge, and two 
children pronouncing the words just as fast as they can 
to see who w^ill reach the end of the line first, will hold 
the attention of the class and teach all of the pupils. 
Then it is so easy to turn the cards and have a new 
list of words! The word cards relieve both teacher and 
pupils of a great deal of board work. 

There are three sets of cards for the Child Classics 
Primer and First Reader. The first set contains sixty- 
three Primer word cards, including fourteen extra large 
cards on which are reproductions of important illustra- 
tions, together with the words which they illustrate. 
These illustrations are very helpful in presenting new 
words and may also be used in language lessons. This 
set contains one hundred thirty sight words for drill 
purposes. 



24 



The second set, of forty-one cards, covers thoroughly 
the phonetic drills taught in the Primer. 

The third set, to be used with the First Reader, contains 
thirty-two phonetic cards which review all of the short 
and long vowels and all of the consonants, and drill 
thoroughly on all essential digraphs. 

Sentence Builders 

In addition to these three sets of word cards, there Is 
a sentence builder for seat work. The sentence builder 
consists of a large card, made of manila cardboard on 
which are printed in bold type the first thirty-two words 
of the Primer, the period and the interrogation point. 

These words should be separated by cutting along the 
marked lines and the result (because some of the words 
are duplicated) is forty-five tiny oblong cards w^ith which 
sentences may be built by the children. The sentence 
builders should be put in small boxes. Spool boxes will 
answer the purpose. Their use may begin during the 
first week, if print is taught first. Start with six or eight 
words in the box adding others as new words are learned. 

Teacher (placing word card 3 on the blackboard 
ledge) : Here are John and Kate. We will play that they 
are hiding in your w^ord boxes, and try to find them. 
They are just like these (pointing to the names on card 
3). When you have found John and Kate put them out 
on the desk. 

(Soon the class are able to make sentences.) 
Teacher (placing /, word card 6, on the blackboard 
ledge) : Here is /, find it and place it at the left of your 
desk. (After / has been placed) Here is see^ (showing the 
other side of word card 6). Find see in your box and put 
it right by /, (she then substitutes word card 2 bearing 
/ see^ for card 6). 

25 



Teacher: Now find Kate (showing card 3) and place 
her by see. There is something else wx must find. It is 
the card with the little dot like this (making a period on 
the board). We call that a period. I have no card with 
a period on it, but you have. When you have found 
it place it by Kate. Now who can read our story .^ 

(The teacher insists that 'T see Kate" shall be read as 
though it were a pleasure to see her.) 

When pupils have become expert in building sentences, 
they may be given elliptical sentences to finish. For 
instance, ''John can" is placed on the blackboard. The 
complete sentence (with the period at the end) may be 
''John can run", or "John can play", or "John can play 
with Carlo". 

The teacher will find it a great convenience to write 
out for herself all the sentences possible to make with 
the thirty-two words, and keep them for reference. It 
will also help to hectograph on cardboard sentences 
and groups of sentences to give the children instead of 
having to print them on the blackboard every time. 

Word Builders 

Word builders consist of tiny cards each bearing a 
letter of the alphabet. With these, words are. made 
(built) and sentences constructed. 

Using word builders is more difiicult than working 
with sentence builders and should be deferred for a tim.e. 
The alphabet song and the word builders reenforce each 
other, for the children can touch their own alphabet 
as they sing. 

A class which had been in school five months was 
assigned seat work as follows: 

Teacher: Who can read the question on the board .^ 
Helen. 

Helen: What did John get for Christmas.'^ 

26 



Teacher: Turn to the story in the very back of your 
Primer, page 87. What did John get on the Christmas 
tree? You must look through the story to find the answer. 

(Here are some of the answers, made with letter cards 
which were on the various desks.) 

John has a drum. 

John has a drum and a box of tin soldiers for Christmas. 

("Did John have the soldiers.^" the teacher asked.) 

John has a big red box. It is a new drum. 

Frank has a box of tin soldiers. 

("The question did not ask about Fra7ik^s presents," 
she commented.) 

The Alphabet Song 

The words of the alphabet song are found on page 50 
in the Primer. The music is given here for those teachers 
who may not know the old folk tune. 

The alphabet should be thoroughly committed during 
the first year because in no subsequent year will learning' 
it seem so great an accomplishment. 

It may be sung for the pleasure of singing and for the 
help that rhythm gives. There is no thought to be sacri- 
ficed. This is an era of revival of folk stories, games, 
and songs, so it is quite fitting that the alphabet song 
should come into its own again. 

The song should be thoroughly learned first; then the 
first four lines written on the board. The letters stand 
out more clearlv if written in four columns: 



a 


h 


q 


w 


b 


i 


r 




c 


j 


s 


X 


d 


k 


and 


and 


e 


1 


t 


y 


f 


m 




and 


g 


n 


u 


z 







V 






P 







27 



Singing with the class, the teacher with a long pointer 
touches each letter as it is sung. Then individual children 
try it. 

The quick time for 1, m, n, o, p will trouble them for a 
while. 



ri 


J ^ 


, , 


I 1 


1 


« 


T .m- ■ -m- 


« « 




1 r:^! 1 



A, B, C, D, E, F, G; 



H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P; 



1^ 



Q, R, S, and T, U, V; 



::^-=:l- 



"— ^- 



w. 



X, and Y, and Z. 



1=3^=^3: 



-«s>- 



Now I've said my A, B, C, 



;a 



Tell me what you think of me. 

Each child who can ''carry a tune" may sing the song 
as a solo, pointing to the letters as he sings. Every child 

28 



whether he can sing or not should say the alphabet while 
touching the letters, both on the board and with the 
sentence builders on his desk. 

Even before the pupils can say the whole alphabet in 
order, letters are scattered over the board and matched 
with those in the columns. 

When a child forgets the name of a letter, he begins 
at ''a" and sings till he reaches that letter. 

This plan is identical with that described in The 
Nursery Rhymes, and work with the rhymes, many of 
which precede learning the alphabet, will prepare for 
finding the names of letters. 

The alphabet should be so taught that children take 
pride in repeating it and in naming the letters in words. 

GETTING THOUGHT 

''As children become familiar with the individual words, 
combine them into new sentences. This work can be 
started as soon as the child knows four words," says 
the Primer, page 93, and then constructs four different 
sentences from four words. There is the matter in a 
nutshell. From the very first, children should learn words 
to use them. To make the thought varied and interesting, 
the child's small stock of words may be supplemented 
by words used for a lesson or two and then dropped. 
For instance, suppose can is the new word, and "Kitty 
can run" has been placed on the board. "What else can 
Kitty do.^" asks the teacher. 

"Kitty can purr," says Doris. 

"Kitty can scratch," volunteers Richard. 

These are written; Doris reads hers, and Richard his. 

"Who can read Doris's story .^" the teacher inquires. 
"Now, who can read Richard's.^" 

"Purr" and "scratch" are dropped when the lesson is 
over, but they have served their purpose, having given 

29 



a varied practice with can and strengthened the habit 
of natural tones in reading. 

Conversation lessons help in reading, as well as lay a 
foundation for future language work. 

A lesson based on picture card 3 was given as follows: 

Teacher (holding up picture) : Where do you think 
these children are, in the city or country.^ 

Pupil: In the country. 

Teacher: Why.^ 

Pupil: Because there is no sidewalk. 

Teacher: I know another reason. 

Pupil: Because there are birds. 

Teacher: Yes. But there are birds in the city, too. 
I know another reason. 

Pupil: There is only one house. 

Teacher: That is true, and another reason is that 
there are no old fences like that in the city. How do the 
children happen to be in the country .^^ 

First Pupil: Maybe they live there. 

Second Pupil: P'raps they are visiting their grand- 
ma. My grandma lives in the country. 

Teacher: Suppose we say that the picture shows 
a little boy and girl who are visiting their grandma out 
in the country, where there are many birds and no side- 
walks. If we follow the road by the old stone wall we 
shall come to grandmother's house among the trees. 

(This conversation lesson was given during the first 
week,, and the teacher summed up the answers because 
the children were not yet able, and to gi\'e them a model 
for "telling all about it" by and by.) 

PRINT OR SCRIPT 

Whether to begin with print or script is a frequently 

recurring question. Each plan has earnest advocates. 

In favor of print it may be said that is the form the 



children will see in books, and that it will enable them to 
use at once the word cards, and sentence builders, and 
to find words in the Primer. 

In favor of script is the fact that all people write and 
none but primary teachers needs to print. Hence, many 
teachers who write well print poorly; the busy teachers 
w^th many classes feel that they save time by using 
script because it minimizes the amount of print that must 
be put on the board. Then, too, children do not print 
but must learn to write; reading and writing reenforce 
each other; the child who reads see and then writes it, 
has it doubly impressed on his mind. Used wisely, writ- 
ing is interesting seat work, and in many schools there is 
so'little for primary pupils to do at their seats. 

However, no matter which is used first, the other should 
be introduced very soon. Place on the blackboard both 
the printed and written forms of the word, and say: "h 
looks like this in a book, and like this in a letter youj 
mama writes to you." Thereafter use both forms. 

READING FROM THE BLACKBOARD 

Reading should begin with lessons on the board because 
all of the class will then look at the same thing at the same 
time. If they use the Primer at first the teacher can not 
be sure what each is looking at. 

On the board, the sentence or word may be made to 
stand out alone. In the book many sentences and words 
and pictures confuse the child and distract his attention. 

Suggestive Lesson I. John and Kate. 

We will suppose that the teacher is ready for the first 
reading lesson with the Primer Class on the first or second 
day of school, and that she has at hand the Word and 
Picture Cards, set one. 

31 



Standing near the blackboard with the class gathered 
about her, the teacher holds up the picture of John 
and Kate (card 3) or shows the picture in the Primer, 
page 9, and says: ''Here is a picture of a little boy and 
girl. His name is John. Her name is Kate. They have 
met on the way to school. They are polite little children 
so they speak when they meet. Little girls always speak 
first, then little boys speak and lift their caps. Sometimes 
they just touch their caps. 

John and Kate say: 'How do you do,' to each other 
and the picture shows that John politely lifts his cap. 

I will play that I am coming to school and meet you; 
we will be polite and speak to each other." 

Laying the picture aside, she walks away a few steps 
then returns and says: "How do you do, children.^" 

"How do you do, Miss Blank," they respond, the boys 
lifting imaginary caps. 

"I am very glad to see you, so I say: 'How do you do, 
children' " (very cordially). "Make me feel that you are 
glad to see me." 

"How do you do, Miss Blank .^" they try again. 

"I wonder if Edith is glad to see me. 'How do you do,' 
Edith.?" 

"How do you do. Miss Blank.?" is the smiling reply. 

If the class is small, she speaks to each member; if 
some stand round-eyed and speechless, she merely smiles 
and speaks to some one else. 

If the class is large, she selects those who will respond 
most readily. 

After speaking to individuals she suddenly says: 

"How do you do, boys.? 
How do you do, girls.?" 

Each sex responds when spoken to. 

"Now we will play that the girls and boys meet, get 
your caps this time, boys." 

The two groups meet several times, speaking more and 

32 



more naturally. Next, two bo}^s meet each other, then 
two girls, and finally without comment a boy and girl 
are selected to play the game. 

"We have all said 'How do you do.^', now the chalk will 
say it," announces the teacher; turning, she prints the 
greeting on the board, and sweeping the pointer under the 
whole sentence, reads it. Next she prints the sentence 
again directly under the first one, and asks the children 
to read that. Then, showing the picture card again, 
she remarks: ''Kate says, 'How do you do, John'?" 
printing "John" beside the first sentence, "and John says, 
'How do you do — ', pausing for the children to say 
"Kate", she prints that beside the second sentence. 

Looking at the names with interest, she repeats John, 
Kate, pointing as she pronounces. Then turning pic- 
ture card 3, so that the names on the back may be seen 
she rests it on the blackboard ledge. 

Pointing to John on the board she asks: "Can you 
find 'John' on the cardV When all are looking intently, 
she adds: "You may touch it, Fred." 

"Who can touch 'Kate', on the card?" pointing herself 
to the one on the board. "I wonder if you know which 
is 'John' and which is 'Kate', no matter where the chalk 
says them", rapidly printing several of each here and 
there. Pointing to John on the card, she says impres- 
sively: "If you can find one like this and tell who it is, 
you may draw a line under it." 

If no one can do so, she places the card close beside 
the name on the board and calls some child to draw the 
line under it. 

"Find one like this,'' pointing to Kate. She continues 
pointing to one or the other on the card till every name 
has been "matched" and underscored. 

Then no longer pointing to the card, she declares: 
"You may choose any name you please and if you can 
tell me what it is, you may rub it out'' 

33 



When the last name has been erased, the lesson is over. 

Make the game lively. If the children are too timid 
to try, invite some one from the First Reader class to 
"help the little folks." 

Such lessons are the foundation of expression in reading, 
because what the chalk says and what the children say are 
all a part of the game and, by and by, what the Primer 
says will be simply children talking. 

Seguin's Three Periods 

Dr. Montessori emphasizes the value of the three 
psychological periods, or steps, discovered by Dr. Seguin, 
an eminent French physician and teacher. 

McClure's magazine thus states them: ''The three 
periods of Seguin proceed in the following manner: First, 
the teacher shows the child the object, and speaks its 
name carefully. Second, she calls the name of the object 
and signifies that she wishes him to give it to her. Thirdly, 
she points to the object and requires the child to pro- 
nounce its name." 

The Montessori pupils are of the kindergarten age, 
the teacher of a primer class adapts Seguin's steps thus: 

First, associate the printed word with the object, as 
the name ''John" with the picture of a boy. 

Second, pronounce the name for the child to point to 
the printed form, as "Show me John." 

Thirdly, point to the word for the child to pronounce 
the nam.e, as "What does this word say".^ 

In addition to these three steps. Dr. Alontessori calls 
attention to another very important step: 

Fourthly, point to the printed word for the child to 
find a duplicate, i. e., to match it, as "Find another word 
like this." 

The existence of these periods, especially of the second 
and third may be proved in her own work by any ob- 

34 



servant teacher. Let her place words on the board and 
note how some children w411 readily point to any word 
that she pronounces (the second step) yet fail to pro- 
nounce the same words when she points to them (third 
step). When a teacher prints words several times and 
pointing to one saying, "Who can find another.^" she 
is using Dr. Montessori's fourth step. 

The Rhyme Method by which a child learns the pro- 
nunciation of a word by finding one like it in a familiar 
rhyme, is based on Matching. 



Suggestive Lesson IL Carlo and Kitty 

Convenience in presenting words is considered rather 
than the order in which they occur in the Primer. There- 
fore, Carlo, Kitty, how-wow, and mew-mew are taken 
next, because they come in pairs, and combining the 
lesson on page lo and page ii makes it easier to use 
the same words to construct new sentences. 

Note the observance of Seguin's and Montessori's four 
periods. 

Review 

The previous lesson should already be on the board, 
John and Kate being repeated in several places. 

Teacher: Here is the picture of John and Kate 
(Seguin's first step). 

"Point to Kate; to John," (second step). "What is 
this? and this.^" (third step). "Find another like this 
and tell me who it is." (fourth and third steps). "What 
did John and Kate say to each other .^ Show it to me." 
(second step). 



35 



The New Lesson 

Teacher: I'll show you another picture, (picture 
card 4). This dog's name is Carlo, and the cat's name 
is just Kitty. They are speaking to each other. 
He says, "Bow-wow." 
She says, ''Mew-mew." 

But I think they mean "How do you do", (pointing to 
the greetings on the board and erasing John and Kate). 

Kitty means, "How do you do, Carlo.'' (printing the 
name where John had previously been). "And Carlo 
means "How do you do — ," (pausing as in the previous 
lesson for the pupils to suggest "Kitty", and printing it 
in place of Kate.) 

(Follow the plan of the previous lessons, drilling on 
four names.) 

Teacher: Point to Carlo; to Kate', to Kitty, to Johi. 

Show me the cat's name; the dog's; the girl's; the 
boy's; Who is this.^ and this.^ 

(Taking the picture again). Carlo meant "How do you 
do", but he really said, "Bow-wow^". This is the way it 
looks (printing it). 

And Kitty said, "Mew-mew", (placing it under ^0^6^- 
wow'\) 

I want some one to play he is Carlo. Joseph. 

And some one to be Kitty. Emma. 

Jessie and Ruth may speak to them. 

Jessie: How do you do, Carlo. 

Joseph: Bow-wow. 

Ruth: How do you do, Kitty. 

Emma : Mew-mew. 

Teacher : Kitty and Carlo may speak to each other. 

Emma: Mew-mew. 

Joseph: Bow-wow. 

(This is given orally first then the chalk says it.) 



36 



Teacher: Robert, you may be Carlo and speak to 
any one you choose. 

(He says "Bow-wow" to several classmates who in 
turn say, ''How do you do?" Then Kitty speaks to her 
friends.) 

Teacher: The chalk will call Carlo. Carlo, Carlo, 
Carlo! (printing it). 

Call Carlo for me, Grace. \\ ho can call Kitty .^^ Now 
the chalk will call her. 

(Match the four names on the backs of picture cards 
3, and 4. Have the six words underlined and erased, one 
by one, by different pupils.) 

Suggestive Lesson HI. Action Words, One Word 

Commands 

On page 20 in the Primer, there is a lesson in silent 
reading. 

The children do what the book tells them. This thought 
may be used effectively for presenting new words, as 
well as for review, and also to deepen the impression that 
reading is merely another kind of talking. 

There are no dramatic possibilities in do, does, and 
be', see and like lend themselves to dialogue; but rzm, 
jump, and roll call for action. Roll can not well be used 
alone, but run and jump are each a sentence in itself. 
It is well to introduce at this point, skip, hop, clap, bozo, 
even though they are not found in the Primer, for the 
more things there are to do the more thought-power is 
developed. 

Such additional words are a help, not a burden be- 
cause nobody is required to remember them. They serve 
the need of the hour, then are laid aside to be recalled 
soon through phonics. 

Indeed, here reading and phonics first lightly touch 
each other. Run is not only one of the initial phonetic 

37 



words used in the Primer, but it is also among the 
earliest words used in special ear-training exercises. 

The Lesson 

Before the recitation, print Run, Jump, Clap, and 
possibly Skip or Bozu, (easily presented as half of ''bow- 
wow") in a column and also scatter them singly about 
the board. Since they are complete sentences, they 
must begin with capitals. The Primer, page 94, says: 
"Teach words both with capitals and small letters," {Can 
and can). Introduce roll and rolls without comment. 
The child will use the correct form instinctively in his 
reading. 

Teach conjunctions, prepositions, etc., in connection 
with other words. 

The formation of participles by adding ing and ed 
should be taught when opportunity occurs," 

Teacher: (pointing to Run.) The chalk has told 
you to do something. Fd like to whisper to somebody 
what it is and let him show the class. Come, Fred 
(and to him she whispers ''Run!" and he runs. She 
chose him because she knew he would run.) 

What did the chalk say.^ 

Children: Run. 

(Then the teacher points to "run" in different places, 
each time calling on a different child to show what it 
says and then tell it.) 

Teacher: Fd like to whisper this word to somebody, 
(coming back in the column and pointing to the second 
word. This time the whispered command to jump is given 
to Roy, and he jumps; it being left to him whether he 
jumps straight up or runs a few steps first.) 

Then as before the teacher points to the words scattered 
about the board, but now the child must know whether 



to run or jump. Jump may be still more emphasized 
by the word cards and ''Jack be nimble." 

In a rural school, the teacher's whispering the words 
may be varied by having a child from the second grade 
read the commands. 

At the next lesson skip and hop are given. 

"Who can show me the meaning of every word I point 
to?" Bessie volunteers and as the pointer touches the 
words, she jumps, hops, runs or skips. If she hesitates, 
the teacher sounds the word slowly, thus utilizing the 
ear-training given in separate lessons. 

Four children impersonate John, Kate, Carlo, and 
Kitty. The teacher then prints the names by one or 
more of the verbs and the children must do as they are 
told by the chalk: 

Jump, Carlo. Hop, John. 

Skip, Kate. Run, Kitty. 

To know what to do and who is to do it, the children 
must really, truly read. 

Suggestive Lesson IV. See 

"I think of something that I want you to see," says 
the teacher, "so I'll say: 'See the blackboard'," touching 
it lightly, "See Mary" smilingly tapping her on the head, 
"See the ceiling", pointing to it. "Now you tell me 
what you want me to see." After a few lively minutes, 
during which the children tell the teacher to "see" any 
thing or anybody they choose, the teacher says: "The 
chalk will tell you to see something," and writes 



)ee 



39 



The children instinctively supply the or a and the word 
See stands out more clearly alone. She uses other pic- 
tures instead of words as suggested under ''Devices". 
Also all the stock of words: 

See Kate run. 

See Carlo jump. 

Suggestive Lesson V. I Like 

/ like, taught together, may be presented as see 
was, but the following plan gives greater variety. If 
the teacher lacks skill in drawing let her not despair for 
a little courage and ingenuity will supply its place. 

Each child is to remember his own sentence, and if 
no one else recalls w^hat a certain picture stood for, it 
does not matter so long as the purpose of the lesson is 
served; i. e., to teach the phrase / like, and to strengthen 
the habit of ''thoughts not words." 

The Lesson 

Teacher: I like cherries, and I'll write it on the 
board. 

You may tell me something that you like, and I will 
write that. 

("Write" may be gradually substituted for "the chalk 
says.") 

Ted: I like lemons. 

May: I like pears. 

Tom: I like a watermelon. 

40 




(Such objects are comparatively easy to draw, but as 
the children are free to take any thing, the teacher must 
be prepared to represent, by s}'mbol at least, whatever 
may be chosen.) 

If some child chances to say "I like soup," or remember- 
ing The Three Bears says, 'T like porridge," the teacher 
writes 



Hike V / [The soup or porridge 

IS in the bowlj ! 



Ice-cream may be represented by a co7ie, or a pyramid 
in a saucer. 

Candy may be striped stick candy and so on. The 
vivid interest the child has in seeing his own story, and 
the expression he puts into reading it, are arguments 
in favor of this plan. 

The same idea may be utilized in teaching can run 
and can roll. 

Carlo can run, so can a horse, a pig, a cow% and an 
elephant. 

A modified oblong will serve as a body for each; a 
flowing mane and tail will indicate a horse; a curly tail, 
a pig; horns, a cow; and a trunk, an elephant. 

Suggestive Lesson VI. The Analysis of the 
Sentence 

The children have read ''How do you do.^" so many 
times as a v/hole, that there is now no danger of reading 
jerkily if it is analyzed into separate words. 

Pointing to the familiar greeting, the teacher says: 
*T am going to put fences between these words," and 
draws vertical lines thus: 

41 



How 



do 



you 



do? 



She then prints the words in different places on the 
board; the children match them wdth the fenced-off 
w^ords and with word cards 7 and 8. She uses also "longi- 
tudinal repetition" as suggested in the Primer, page 93. 



Use the fence in I 



like, and there will be al- 



together about a dozen separate words (besides the extra 
ones, like skip and hop) to recombine into new" 
sentences. 



Suggestive Lesson VII. The Construction of 
New Sentences 

Quickly review the dozen or more words; explain that 
do and Do are the same word, likewise run, Run, 
and see, See, but that we always use the one with 
the large letter for the first word in a story. Also 
add s to like, explaining that we say ''I like a ball, 
you like a_ ball, but John likes a ball." Then write 
such sentences as: 

I see John. 

Do you see Kate.^ 

Kate likes Kitty. 

I like Carlo. 

Do you like Carlo .^ 
These sentences lead directly to introducing yes. 
Print the answer, "Yes, I like Carlo", under the 
question. Sound yes phonetically, pointing to the 
word but not to the separate letters; match with 
word card 9. 

It is well to introduce no at this time, because yes 



42 



and no open the way for a game of oral questions and 
printed answers. 

The teacher prhits yes a number of times on the 
board, and places the word card on the blackboard ledge, 
and says: ''I am going to ask some questions, and I 
want you to shut your lips tight and point to the answer." 
^'Do you like candy .^" she writes. The children point 
to yes, anywhere they see it, and one child is told to 
draw a circle around the one she selects. 

"Do you like bitter medicine?" The children shake 
their heads but have nothing to point to. The teacher 
shows No on word card 14, and prints it several times 
on the board. 

"Can you run.^" Vigorous fingers point to yes. 
"Can you run as fast as a horse. ^" No is pointed out, 
touched and enclosed in a circle. 

"Herbert may take the pointer. Now you may ask 
him questions and see if he can show us the answers." 

Asking questions is oral language work. 

Suggestive Lesson VIII. Roll the Ball 

The teacher holds up a bright colored ball; the children 
stand about her in a semicircle. 

Teacher: We will have a game of ball. (Stooping, 
she starts the ball rolling: across the floor toward a little 

girl.) 

Teacher: I roll the ball. Ruth. (Ruth who failed 
to catch the ball as it rolled by runs to get it and rolls 
it back to the teacher). 

Ruth: I roll the ball. 

Teacher: I roll the ball. Robert. (Robert seizes 
it and rolls it back.) 

Robert: I roll the ball. 

(When each child has rolled the ball, the teacher prints 
the sentence on the board.) 

43 



Teacher: What does our story say, Ruth? 

(Ruth hesitates; without a word the teacher rolls the 
ball to her.) 

Ruth: I roll the ball. 

Teacher: Who can show me It (After a pupil has 
touched it she prints it several times and shows card 6, 
then holds up card i, which bears roll.) 

Teacher: Here is the word that tells us what we 
did. Find it in the story, and hold this card under it. 
(Several place it correctly.) 

Teacher: It says roll. Here it is again and again 
and again (printing it with small letters and capitals). 

Teacher (taking card i): This is roll, and this 
(turning the card) is the name of this (holding a ball 
under the words). 

Pupils: Ball! 

Teacher: Yes, but when it is written this way we 
say the hall. Who can draw a line under it in the story .f' 
(She then prints the ball a number of times.) 

Teacher: Watch my new story. It tells you to do 
something. (Printing Roll the hall.) Who can do it? 
(Although they have previously done what run, jump, 
hop, etc., told them to do, the children hesitate.) 

Teacher (showing card i): What does this say? 

Pupils: Roll. 

Teacher: Now this, (turning the card. The children 
hesitate and she holds up the ball.) 

Pupils: Ball. (She accepts it because she knows 
they will supply the when they read.) 

Teacher: Now read the whole story and do what 
it says. (Finally it dawns on the children that the 
sentence is like that which said: ''Run, Kitty," and the 
ball is soon rolling across the floor.) 

The class has had / and see, so this group of sentences 
is given: I see the ball. 

I roll the ball. 
Roll the ball, John. 

44 



Another Pair of Words 

John and Kate, Kitty and Carlo, mew-mew and how- 
wow, yes and no, were presented in pairs; likewise my and 
your should come together. My appears on page 13 in 
the Primer and your not till page 21, but the two may 
be taught in the same lesson for the sake of inflection. 

"See my ball", "See your ball," help each other; but 
do not use them in the same lesson with "See the ball", 
because it invites distressing emphasis on the. 

By this time the class should have had sufficient ear- 
training during the phonic drills to use the following 
plan: Print you, then add r, sounding it slowly thus: 
"you — r". Then erasing r print your under you, and 
show word card 19. Then orally practise such phrases 
as "your cap", "your book", etc., and finally print 
your ball. Use the small letters, because it is only a 
phrase. 

Teaching "My" 

Calling a child to her the teacher says, "Mary, I will 
tell you some things that are yours and some that are 
mine; your dress, my dress; your hand, my hand; now 
you tell me things that are mine and yours." 

After Adary has used several such phrases, the teacher 
takes two balls and handing one to Mary leads her to 
say, your hall, my ball, 

"Here is your ball,'' pointing to it on the blackboard. 
*'What does this say.'^" printing my hall under it. 

Word cards 9 and 19 are matched with my and 
your, and the lesson closes with a merry erasing game, 
the teacher erasing as rapidly as the children pronounce 
the words. 



45 



Reading From the Book 

Some schools do not begin reading from the Primer 
for a month or six weeks after school opens; others prefer 
to take the book after the first four or five lessons have 
been mastered. Lessons from the board should continue 
throughout the first year, though they receive less and 
less time as the work in the book increases. 

Before the children begin to read from the Primer 
some preparatory lessons may be given. 

Finding Pictures, Words and Sentences 

Some time during the first week the children, books in 
hand, gather around the teacher. "I have found the 
very first picture in my Primer," she says; '^here it is, 
can you find it in your book.^^" 

When the pupils have found it she continues: ''Four 
children, one little girl is saying 'Wire, brier, limber 
lock', I know because the words say so right under the 
picture. Her name is Kate, the other little girl is Mary, 
and the boys are John and Frank. Turn to .the next 
picture. 

"Here they are again, all four. They are singing this 
time. Look at the picture right by this one", (page 9). 
"Only two children this time, John and Kate. Turn to 
the next page" (page 10). "What do }'cu see.^" 

"A dog, a boy, a girl," venture several children. "Yes, 
the dog is Carlo. Who are the children.^" 

Let the class linger over each picture for a few minutes 
only, because this is a lessen in finding pictures, not 
studying them. 

Look at the next picture," (page 11). "Who are there .^" 
"Boy, girl, cat," they declare. "John and Kate again! 
Turn one leaf," (page 12). "Alabel, what do you see?" 
"A great big dog and a cat." "It is the same dog that 
we saw in the other picture. What is his name.^"* 

46 



They continue thus, page by page, till they reach 
^'Jack, be nimble." Then the teacher says "Turn back 
to the very first picture again." 

When all have found it she says impressively: "Pick 
out the picture you like best, and show it to me." 
Such a turning of pages! 

"Books closed! Open them and find 'Wire, brier, 
limber lock**." 

Those who can not find it are carefully assisted till 
everybody has it. "Now show me 'Jack, be nimxble'." 

W^ORDS 

"You all like Hide and Seek. Let's play that John and 
Kate are hiding some where on this page, and we will seek 
them. Turn to the picture of John and Kate, now find 
their names." Word card 3 is placed so that all may see 
John and Kate and match them in the Primer. If some 
discover the names in small type, the teacher commends 
them; if others do not notice them, she lets it pass. By 
and by she will explain: "Those little words just show 
who is talking." 

On some other day they play Hide and Seek with 
Carlo and Kate, matching them with the word card, and 
finding them in the Sentence Builder. 

Soon the teacher places the card bearing any review 
word before the children and they find it in their books. 

Sextexces 

Pictures, words, then sentences may be found. Wlien 
the greeting "How do you do.''" is readily recognized on 
the board, let the children find it on different pages of 
the Primer, seeing it 7iot word by word but as a whole. 
Next place on the board a sentence from a lesson and 

47 



let the children hunt for it in that lesson. When that 
stage is reached the class is quite ready to read from the 
book. 

Reading the Lessons 

The first lesson, ''John and Kate", should be read two 
by two, each pair stepping out in front of the class to 
read. In the strict sense it is not really reading because 
the children already have the thought; but, partly for 
that reason, it is just the easy step from board to book 
that is needed. 

Here is the second lesson: 

John: See Carlo. 

Kate: How do you do. Carlo? 

Carlo : Bow-wow. 

John: Run, Carlo, run. 

Kate: See Carlo run! 

The Recitation 

''All look carefully at the first line. The first word 
tells us that John is talking. What does he say.^" 
Selecting a volunteer she directs, "Tell us what John 
says, Charles." Charles says the words correctly but 
mechanically. "That does not sound as though John 
really wants Kate to see Carlo; it seems as if he did 
not care whether she saw him or not. I think Carlo 
was running very fast and John meanly 'Oh, look at 
Carlo!' I want some one to read it so wx shall want to 
see the dog. Carmine." Carmine gives it fairly well. 

"That is better. Kate looks at Carlo and the next 
line tells us what she says. Fred, you may read it." 
This is so familiar that it is well done. 

"What does Carlo say, Bessie.^" Bessie gives a hesita- 
ting timid "Bow-wow." "That does not sound as though 
Carlo was glad to see John and Kate. Sometimes when 

48 



a dog sa3's 'Bow-wow', it means 'I like you', and some- 
times it means 'Go away, you strange man, or I'll bite 
you!' All of you think, 'How do you do? I like you'. 
Now all say 'bow^-wow' so it means that." 

Again and again the class try it in concert, making 
marked improvement. 

"In the next line (it is next to the last line) John 
speaks again. 

"What did he say.^ Donna. That's good; he wanted 
Carlo to run fast, and Carlo did run fast, because in the 
last line Kate says — What.^ Rupert." Rupert reads 
it without expression. 

"That does not sound as though Carlo were worth 
looking at! He must have been walking! I think Kate 
was proud of Carlo because he ran so fast. All read the 
last line together. Now Joseph may read it." 

This is reading because it is interpreting thought. 
The next step is to select three children for John, Kate 
and Carlo, and let them stand before the class. John 
speaks (reads) to Kate; Kate to Carlo; Carlo to both of 
them. Then John speaks to Carlo, and Kate to John. 

Have the lesson read by threes, because it is important 
that at the outset, the pupils understand that three 
characters are speaking. 

After a few lessons, the purpose will be served and 
time saved by following the suggestion in the Primer: 
"Divide the class into two sections for alternate reading, 
each child on one side, for instance, taking in turn John's 
part, the other, Kate's." Just before the recitation 
closes, the teacher announces: "/ am going to be John^ 
and Kate and Carlo^ all three and read the w^hole lesson 
by myself." 

The purpose is twofold, to give the class a model 
showing them how one reader may represent several 
characters, and to teach them to read a whole page 
smoothly. It is the ounce of prevention w^hich fore- 

49 



stalls the habit of reading sentence by sentence instead 
of by paragraphs. 

If possible have every dialogue read once by the exact 
number of characters represented and once by just 
one child. 

Dramatizing 

Expression — that is the purpose of dramatizing! 
Nothing else so easily and quickly secures expression in 
reading because it is so natural to play "make believe". 
The child forgets himself and the thought takes possession 
of him. Dramatizing is living the thought! 

"The thing we long for that we are 
For one transcendent moment," 

writes Lowell even of grozun people! Of children it may 
be said, 

"The thing they're playing, that they are," and their 
voices respond to the feeling that thrills them. 

Because at home the child plays that he is a horse — a 
wild, galloping horse — therefore at school, the teacher 
encourages him to play that he is a dog, a dog that runs 
and says "Bow-wow." 

And no child can say "Bow-wow" expressively who 
does not imagine himself to be the dog. 

The dialogue form of the Primer lessons makes such 
imagining easy; hence, correct expression should be the 
natural outcome. 

The Primer is largely a book of tiny plays for tiny 
actors; it turns to good account Stevenson's thought: 

"In the child's world of dim sensation, play is all in all. 
Making believe is the gist of his whole life ..." 

Therefore, make believe that the little readers are 
the characters whose thoughts they are expressing, and, 

50 



if the words have been mastered, the tones will ne\'er be 
dull and lifeless. 

How AND What to Dramatize 

There are two distinct phases of dramatizing; they 
may be called Reading the Dialogue and Playing the 
Story. 

In the first, the children read their parts from book 
or blackboard and the dramatization virtually consists 
in reading the lines expressiveh^ 

In the second, the story is read or told, and the children 
play it from memory, adhering to the thought but not 
the exact words of the text. 

Reading the Dialogue 

Dialogue lessons sometimes permit acting and the 
children greatly enjoy it, although they are to a certain 
extent hampered by having to keep the place in the books. 
Care must be taken that neither the reading nor the 
acting is unduly sacrificed. 

For example, in the lesson, page 14, we find, Frank: 
Can I play ball.^ See me! 

Now he can^t pla}' ball, not even to throw and catch It, 
without laying his book aside and that spoils the reading. 

Similar difificulties arise in Jumping the Rope, page 19, 
and Frank Takes a Ride, page 24; therefore in all such 
lessons it Is better for acting to be omitted entirely. 

However, in lessons in which an actor does not have 
to keep the place or will have time to find it again, acting 
may be introduced, as in Carlo, page 10. 

John: See Carlo! 

Kate: How do you do, Carlo .^ 

Carlo : Bow-w ow. 

John: Run, Carlo, run! 

51 



Kate: See Carlo run! 

John and Kate stand together, Carlo at some distance 
from them. Kate greets Carlo; he responds; John says, 
"Run, Carlo, run!" and Carlo, having no more to read, 
is free to run gaily. 

Very similar is the lesson about Kitty, page ii. John 
and Kate look high and low for Kitty, who is at a dis- 
tance, supposedly out of sight. 

"Kitty, Kitty, Kitty," calls Kate. 

"Mew, mew," comes the answer. 

"Do you see Kitty .f^" asks John. 

And this is the cue for Kitty to run to them. 

The lesson, Billy Plays with Betsy, page G6, is so 
arranged that the readers may act it out in spite of one 
difficult place. 

Four characters, Kate, Mary, Mother, and Billy the 
goat, are chosen. 

Billy stands at one side of the "stage" (room). 

Mother sits in a chair at the other. 

Kate and Mary enter and walk across the stage toward 
Billy, Kate unconsciously dropping her rag doll, Betsy. 

When Kate and Mary reach the center of the stage, 
Billy scampers by, picks up the doll and begins tossing 
and catching it, instead of chewing it as in the picture. 

At that point the reading begins: 

Kate: Just look at Billy! Is that Betsy, my rag doll? 

Mary: Yes. Be quick! 

(The two girls hasten toward Billy, who drops the 
doll and stands a few steps away looking at them. Mary 
picks up Betsy, which gives Kate time to find the place 
and read.) 

Kate: You bad Billy! What shall I do. ^ 

(During the expressive pause, Kate frowns at Billy; 
he scampers off and while he is running from the stage 
Mary hands Betsy to Kate; Kate looks sorrowfully at 



52 



her poor doll while Mary finds the place and reads.) 

Mary: Ask your mother to mend Betsy. 

Kate (hopefull}^) • Mother is just the one to mend 
her for us. ' r i 

(Then the two hasten to mother and the rest of the 
lesson is simple.) 

Success depends on the skilful use of the natural pause. 

The lesson, Oranges to Sell, page 38, permits reading 
and acting to be combined very satisfactorily. 

Here is a stenographic report of how it was once played : 

Teacher: Let's play the Orange Story. Turn to 

page 38. 

Children (eagerly): May I be the Orange Man? 

May I? May I? . 

Teacher: I am going to try your voices first, i 
want some one who can call loud. ^ 

(Several try calling, "Oranges!" "Oranges to sell!' 
One is especially good.) 

Teacher: Which do you think was best.? 

Children: Barney. 

Teacher: Then Barney get your cart and oranges. 

(Barney chooses a real little wagon which happens to 
be in the schoolroom and his oranges are w^ioUy imagin- 
ary. But the cart might be a pasteboard box drawn by 
a string, and the oranges bits of chalk or borrowed balls. 

Barney, with his cart, stands at one side of the stage; 
Frank and Kate at the other; John passes to the back 
of the room ready to "run up the lane". Each of the 
three has bits of paper for pennies.) The play begms: 

Man: Oranges! Oranges to selll 

(Barney advances toward center.) 

Kate: What big oranges! 

(She and Frank advance and stop the orange man.) 

Frank: How do you sell them? 

Man: They are two for five cents. 

53 



Frank: Please sell us two oranges. 

Man: Here are two. 

(He hands them to Frank, but Kate pays him, which 
gives Frank time to find the place.) 

Kate: Here are five cents. 

Frank: See! John runs up the lane. 

Kate: John, see the big oranges.^ 

John: Will you sell me one orange? 

Man : Yes, here is a good one. 

(While John talks with the orange man, Frank gives 
Kate one of the two oranges. John pays the orange man 
though it is not mentioned in the lesson.) 

Frank: Let us eat them. 

Kate: My orange is red: Is it good? 

(She looks at her orange very critically.) 

Frank: Yes, red oranges are good. 

John: Let us run home. One, two, three. 

(Before he counts, the three children place themselves 
abreast, and at "three" they race to their seats.) 

Man: Oranges! Oranges to sell! 

(Barney passes slowly off the stage.) 

Effectiveness depends upon familiarity with the text, 
so that a thought may be taken in at a glance. Therefore, 
reviews are even more enjoyable than the first reading. 

Playing The Story 

To play a story unhampered by book or exact w^ords, 
is a much higher form of dramatizing than reading a 
dialogue. It may be called true dramatizing. Because 
freedom develops individuality and fine expression it 
greatly aids in effective reading. 

Therefore, playing stories should from the very first 
accompany reading lessons. 

Some of the Nursery Rhymes serve as stepping stones 
to playing stories. One child recites the rhyme for others 

54 



to act it as a sort of pantomime. A review lesson will 
suggest how some of the rhymes may be played. 

''We will play all the nursery rhymes over again 
to-day", announced the teacher to the group gathered 
about her. 

''Who know^s 'Wire, brier, limber-lock'.'' Ruth. 
Who can say 'Jack, be nimble'.'' Robert. 
Ruth, you may 'count out' somebody to be Jack, by 
saying, 'Wire, brier', 'limber-lock', just as Kate does in 
the first picture in our Primer." 

Ruth counts carefully and the fateful word "nest" falls 
upon Ferdinand. So he is Jack and gets his candlestick 
ready by standing an eraser on end. 
"Robert, tell Jack what to do." 
"Jack, be nimble. 
Jack, be quick, 
Jack, jump over 

the candlestick," 
commands Robert. At the last word, over the candle- 
stick goes Jack. 

"I want some one to go to market. Rose may say 
'Wire, brier,' this time." George is "counted out"; he 
chooses a corner for his home, bestrides the pointer for 
his horse, and awaits commands. 
"William, tell him what to do."- 

"To market, to market, 
To buy a fat pig; 
Home again, home again. 
Jig-jig-jig", 
recites William rhymthically. 

At the close, George trots to market, seizes a pig by 
the ear (some child by the hand), and he and the pig 
trot back home again. 

"Now% 'Hey, diddle, diddle!' Carmine, what actors 
must be 'counted out'.''" 



55 



'The cat, the cow, the dog, the dish and the spoon," 
replied Carmine, and gaily counts them out. 

The cat takes a ruler for a fiddle, the cow stands a 
chalk box on end for a moon, and the dog, dish and 
spoon stand all attention. Catherine recites: 
"Hey! diddle, diddle. 
The cat and the fiddle, 
The cow jumped over the moon; 
The little dog laughed 
To see such sport. 

And the dish ran away with the spoon." 
Then things are lively, for the cat fiddles energetically, 
the cow jumps high as possible, the dog laughs a loud 
'ha, ha', and the dish runs away, pulling the unwilling 
spoon along with him ! 

"The man in the moon! Gerald, Angelo, Alma," 
says the teacher, selecting three who have not yet taken 
part. Gerald places his bowl of cold pease-porridge on 
a table. It is the same convenient chalk box which has 
just served as a moon, a pencil-spoon is added. 

He and Angelo agree upon the location of Norwich, 
then place themselves at quite a distance from the town 
and from each other. 
Alma recites: 

"The man in the moon 
Came down too soon. 
And asked the way to Norwich, 
He went by the south 
And burnt his mouth. 
While eating cold pease-porridge." 
Gerald then steps from the purely imaginary moon, 
advances to Angelo and asks: "Which is the way to 
Norwich?" Angelo points toward the town; Gerald, 
instead of going directly to Norwich, swerves to go "by 
the south", and stops to eat porridge, burning his mouth 
with every spoonful! 

56 



"Baa, baa, black sheep," and "Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat," 
follow, each being played by two actors. 

Playing the rhymes in this way directly contributes 
to good reading, because the teacher can insist upon the 
expression of emotions and secure it through the children's 
interest in the acting. 

For example, "Puss3^-cat, Pussy-cat where have you 

been.^" is to be so spoken that the tone says, "I have just 

looked and looked everywhere for you!" "I've been to 

. London to look at the Queen,^' is to express, "I knozv 

\ you will be astonished! I have been far away and 

have seen the Queenl''^ 

"Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, what did you there .^", should 
suggest, "I am astonished! What in the world did you 
do at the palace.^" 

"I frightened a little mouse under her chair!" This 
would be the climax of pride and importance. 

The same purpose is served by playing stories- which 
have been told to the children. Many old favorites are 
easily dramatized. Among them are The Three Bears, 
The Three Billy-goats Gruff, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, 
and The Pigs Who Built Houses. 

All of these are full of thrills! A child enjoys being the 
wolf and saying in a terrifying voice to each little pig 
who refuses him admittance: 

"Now, by the hair 
Of my chinny, chin, chin, 
Pll huff, and Fll puff. 
And Pll blow your house inP'' 

Dramatizing develops flexibility of voice because it 
leads the children to feel and to imagine. Dr. S. H. Clark 
points out that emotion is the key to voice quality; and 
advises, "Develop the Imagination, the soul, and the 
voice will grow through the effort of the soul to go out 
in expression." 



57 



The Nursery Rhymes 

Little children love to pore over a Mother Goose book, 
so the familiar rhymes serve to endear the Primer to 
the pupils. 

Early in the year, with the air of doing them a great 
favor, teach the children to find every nursery rhyme 
from "Wire, brier, limber-lock," on the first page to 
"Here we go round the bramble bush," on the last; and 
to recite every one, singly and in concert. 

Some of the rhymes may be dramatized as described, 
others used as brief rest exercises. Imitating the children 
In the picture, the pupils may merrily circle and reverse 
a number of times, reciting or singing: 

"Here we go round the bramble bush." 

The classes may play See-saw by clasping hands, two 
by two, across the desks and swaying hack and forth 
while slowly in concert, reciting with marked rhythm: 
"See saw up and down 
Here we go to London town." 

In the game of the two blackbirds, the Primer Is the 
hill; it is held In position, the lower edge on the desk, by 
the left hand. The first and second fingers of the right 
hand resting on the upper edge of the Primer are the 
two blackbirds sitting on the hill. 

The one named Jack (lift the forefinger for an Instant). 

The other named Jill (lift the second finger). 

Each "flies away" by disappearing behind the hill at 
the right moment, and each "comes again" to its place 
on the hill. 

In "Hickory, dickory, dock," the same two fingers 
become the mouse, which at the words "ran up the clock", 
runs from the bend of the left elbow which rests on the 
desk, to the tips of the fingers of the left hand, pauses, 
and then runs back to the elbow at the line, "The mouse 
ran down". 

58 



"Little Jack Horner's Christmas pie" serves as an 
excellent device when it is filled with word-plums. Not 
only may the pie be drawn on the board and filled with 
words, but a bowl or box may be the pie where a child 
^'sticks in his thumb" and draws out a slip of paper 
bearing a review word, which "plum" he may keep only 
if he can pronounce the word. 

Another effective use of the Mother Goose Jingles is 
a modification of the Rhyme Method. A suggestive 
lesson will make the plan clear. 

The Rhyme Plan 

"We will all say To market, to market'," says the 
teacher, and the whole class with the teacher repeat: 
"To market, to market, 
To buy a fat pig; 
Home again, home again, 
Jig — jig — jig." , ,, ,, 
"Now we will read it," turning to the blackboard where 
the rhyme has previously been written, "and I will point 
to every word just as we say it," and she does, using a 
long pointer so that the children may see clearly each 
word indicated. 

"Who will be teacher and point to the words as I did?" 

she asks. 

From among the volunteers she chooses Fred as one 
most likely to do it successfully. But, although the 
class speak very slowly, he loses the place in the second 
line. 

"Watch me closely this time," again touching each 
word at the moment it is spoken, "Now, you try it, 
Elizabeth." 

Elizabeth almost reaches the last line. Fred tries agam 
and succeeds. After several have successfully pomted to 
each word as it was uttered, one child tries to point to 

59 



the words as he recites the rhyme by himself. He succeeds 
only fairly well, but the teacher helps him a little and 
accepts the attempt, for this is not considered a lesson^ 
it is a game! 

The exercise could close here but as there is time for it, 
she takes the next step. 

''Try to find a word like this," writing market on an- 
other part of the board. Alice finds (matches) it twice 
in the first line. 

''Now, I'll make the rhyme tell me what the word 
is!" she declares. Silently she underscores the word she 
has just written, and then the two in the first line. Then 
pointing recites slowly "To market, to market. Why, 
the word is market,''^ she cries triumphantly. 

The children pronounce it three times, once for each 
place it stands on the board. 

Following the same order, "pig," "home," and "again," 
are written, matched and pronounced. The lesson should 
end here for the children will be tired, but we will suppose 
that the third step is taken immediately. 

The child is now: 

(a) To find in a sentence, a word which he does not 
recognize; 

(b) Match that word in the rhyme; 

(c) Make the rhyme show him how to pronounce it; 
and 

(d) Read the sentence. 

tie has already practised (a), (b), and (c) but he has 
now to find the new word, whereas before it stood alone, 
and finally to read the sentence containing it; so because 
(d) adds so much to the difficulty, the teacher gives a 
complete pattern. 

"Here is a question," writing, "Can a pig run.^" "I'll 
make believe that I am a little girl in this class and want 
to read this." She studies the sentence to give the chil- 
dren time to discover the word. 

60 



''Here Is a new word," pointing to pig, "and I don't 
know what it is, so I'll find it here," looking for it and 
underscoring it in the rhyme, ''and now" (very confi- 
dently) "I'll make the rhyme tell me what it is," pointing 
to each and pronouncing deliberately as though the 
words stood in a column, she says : 

"To market, to, market, to bu}^ a fat pig. It's pig! 
* Now I can read the question," and she does, "I'll make 
it longer," adding the words, "to market," "and see if 
you can read it. First find the new word." 

She selects one of the brightest pupils, giving him a 
little help, and soon he reads: "Can the pig run to 
market.^" 

"Now I will write a long new story and see if you can 
read thatr^ She writes, "John runs to market and home 
again." Market is soon disposed of. Then the teacher 
calls Emma because she is quite sure that Emma has 
not grasped the plan. Emma holds the pointer, but the 
teacher guides it to "home again." 

"What are these words .^" Emma slowly shakes her 
head. "Let's find them in the rhyme." Again the 
kindly guided pointer finds the words and Emma under- 
scores them. Then she and the teacher together point 
to the words while repeating the rhyme till they come 
to the underscored words, when Emma by herself joyfully 
says "home again"; and goes to her seat as happy as a 
three-year-old who is sure he drove the horse although 
father also held the reins! 

The Nursery Rhymes through this adaptation of the 
Rhyme Method, give practical help in reading by: 

(i) Affording pleasant variet}' which keeps children 
w^orking happily; 

(2) Training pupils in self reliance; 

(3) Giving them wider practice in getting new thought. 
The rhymes make possible this wider practice by 

providing what may be called a temporary vocabulary, 

61 



that is, words like ''market" and "again," which are 
used only in special lessons and which the pupils are 
not required to remember, because they are not found in 
the Primer text. 

Words found only in the rhymes are never used in 
sentences except when the rhyme is before the children 
for comparison. 

The children read such sentences because they may, 
not because they must. Pointing to the words, instead 
of taking in the whole sentence does not in this case lead 
to choppy reading because of the purpose for which it 
is done. The pupils already know the thought and are 
finding words. Any tendency to read word by word which 
might result from pointing, is counteracted by other 
reading lessons. 

In rural schools, the teacher may enlist the older 
children by saying: 

"I would be very glad if some pupils in the third and 
fourth grades would take the Primer, choose a rhyme and 
write a few sentences for the little folks to read. They 
will like to read sentences which you have made. Re- 
member, no word is to be used that is not found in the 
rhyme or in the lessons which the children have already 
had." 

The sentences are to be handed in to the teacher, and 
making ^hem requires genuine thought on the part of 
children from eight to ten years old. 

Thus dear Mother Goose stands ready to lend a hand 
to several grades. 



62 



PART II 
Phonics 

The purpose of phonics Is to enable the children to 
pronounce phonetic words without assistance. Phonics 
aids in pronouncing many unphonetic ones, but un- 
fortunately there remain a large number which must be 
memorized Chinese fashion. 

Italian mothers begged Dr. Montessori to teach their 
little, ones of Kindergarten age to read and write. She 
doubted the w^isdom of doing so, but ''pursued by per- 
sistent parents", she yielded so far as to experiment. 
The result was that one "bright Italian day", a little 
boy discovered that he could write! The other pupils 
w^atched him and caught the idea. ''A veritable frenzy 
of WTiting took possession of our school," says Dr. Mon- 
tessori. 

Commenting on this. Dr. Smith of Clark University 
says, ''When an Italian child has once mastered the 
forms and sounds of the alphabet, he can spell any word 
that he know^s or hears, and since his written vocabulary 
is equal to his spoken one, writing immediately becomes 
for him a new mode of self-expression and communication 
in which he is absorbingly interested. The American 
child, on the contrary, who wants to w^rite, ' I can tie 
my shoe,' is forced to choose between samples offered 
in my, eye, high, by, or lie, ajid must puzzle his brain to 
decide whether shoe shall be written after the analogy 
of too, two, chew, blue, or through, i. e., his written 
vocabulary is limited to the words he has learned to 
spell and this involves a psychological loss; for, instead 
of the free expression which is possible for the Italian 

63 



child, his thought is hampered just as it is in beginning 
to speak a foreign language when the vocabulary is still 
inadequate for complete expression." 

Because English is not phonetic many teachers feel 
that teaching phonics is not worth while. But, it is a 
case of half a loaf is better than none — much better if 
one is hungry, and many are hungry for the best available 
ways of making children able and eager to read. 

Skilfully taught phonics will work wonders in the 
reading of pupils from the First A on through the grades; 
but before the harvest there must be a seedtime and that 
time is the first half of the first year. 

Sowing seed continues for several years, but the vitally 
important work belongs to the first months. The largest 
harvest is possible only when the ground is properly 
prepared and good seed is sown early enough. 

The work of the first half year decides the children's 
attitude toward phonics. They should feel whither 
phonics is leading and be glad to follow. During the 
first year pupils should readily learn those elementary 
sounds and combinations of sounds which are most used. 
These include the letters of the alphabet (both the long 
and short sounds of the vowels and both sounds of c 
g, and s) and such combinations as sh, ch, zvh, and 
both sounds of th; also oi, oy, ou, ozo, and long and 
short 00. Such phonograms as ing, ight, ar, or, er, ir 
and ur (the last three having the same sound) should be 
taught and used as wholes. 

The suggestions in the Manual thus cover most of 
the phonetic work to be done in two or three years. The 
work of the first grade is merely continued with some 
additions, in the second and third. 



64 



The Inductive Method 

There are a number of Methods of teaching phonics. 
That especially used in the Child Classics series is the 
Inductive. 

Beginning on page 13 of the Primer, a word is selected 
from the lesson and its initial sound given to the children, 
as See, s. In like manner from succeeding lessons 
familiar words are chosen, and their initials taught, so 
that the child learns the sounds of the twenty-six letters 
of the alphabet and associates them with twenty-six 
key words. 

The short vowels and hard c and g are used in the 
initial type words but the long sounds are taught in 
connection with final e. 

The First Reader develops the digraphs and other 
combinations. 

Phonetic Drill Cards, set two, are especially adapted 
to reenforce the work in the Primer, for each of the first 
twenty-six cards bears one of the key words on one side 
and its initial letter on the other. 

For further drill, a key word, as see is printed and 
Under it is placed words beginning with the same letter, 
as su?i, sell. Through them the child perceives that 
other words beginning with s begin with the same 
sound as see, and thus he becomes sure of the sound 
of s. 

Words are built by analogy as bid from did, and by 
combining phonograms as sat from s — a — t. 

Knowledge of phonetic sounds, thorough drill and the 
large number of phonetic words in the Primer, combine 
to give the children surprising ability to master words 
and get the thought for themselves. 

The Primer is as easily adapted to various methods in 
phonics as it is to different methods of getting thought. 

Suggestions to Teachers, pages 95-6, frankly says: 

65 



''It is not necessary to limit yourself to the vocabulary 
of the book . . . This book may be used with any 
standard system of phonics." 

The Union Method 

A combination of many methods has for convenience 
been called the Union Method, because it unites so many 
ideas, and in union there is strength. 

The ends sought by the method briefly stated are: 

I. Making phonics mteresting. 

II. Oral drill — the ear alone. 

III. Associating sound and symbol. 

IV. Special drills for securing automatic recognition 
of words. 

V. Explaining the relation of phonics to thought. 

I. Interest 

Lessons in phonics should be akin to rest exercises — • 
relief from other work. A class coming forward for 
phonetic drill asked eagerly, ''What are we going to do 
to-day.^" i. e,, race or climb or ride, etc. It happened 
that that day they were to pick strawberries. The 
teacher was skilled in drawing but she had no time for 
details; a single curved stroke to the right and left with 
green chalk made the plant, a red ball resembling a 
giant period served as a strawberry; a dozen or more were 
drawn and behold a strawberry bed! Each child quickly 
drew a cup, a child was appointed to record the straw- 
berries picked, a phonogram was written over each straw- 
berry and the picking began. 

Each child tried a sound, if successful the marker put 
a red dot in his cup. Five times the teacher went round 
the class. Five berries made a cupful. 

66 



"Now take the berries home", she said and the chil- 
dren skipped back to their seats. 

"I got only one," said a boy ruefully. "I'll Vide with, 
you," offered a playmate generously. 

Be sure, sure not to let the work at any stage become 
a dull grind. 

II. Oral Drill — Ear Training 

On the first day of school the teacher gives a prepara- 
tory lesson, the purpose being to make the children 
responsive. If the class seem to be exceedingly timid 
she "borrow^s" a child from the First or Second Reader to 
"help" the little ones; this insures a leader. 

Teacher: I want you to touch some things for me. 
Who can touch the floor .^ the blackboard.^ a book.^ some 
chalk. ^ Touch your knee; A^our head; your toe; your 
cheek; touch a dress; a cap; a fan; a top; a ball. (The 
ball, top, and fan had been placed in plain sight on the 
teacher's desk.) 

The teacher goes over the list two or three times. She 
sees to it that every child who shows any symptoms of 
being willing to touch something, has the opportunity 
to do so. Those who stand stock-still, finger in mouth, 
are kindly left in peace to watch the others. It is a 
day of volunteers. 

On the second day, the teacher reviews, by having the 
same objects touched again. Then she says invitingly: 
"I am going to see whose ears are sharp, sharp enough to 
hear any word I say. I shall say the names very slowly 
and see if vou will know what to touch! Who can touch 
ch — al— 'k.?" 

She separates the three parts quite widely, expecting 
no one to recognize it. She waits a few seconds, and 
repeats the sounds, blending more closely, making but 
two parts ch — alk. Some glance questioningly toward 

^7 



the chalk. A third, and even more times if need be, 
she sounds the word, gradually blending more and more 
until it is virtuall}^ plain pronouncing. Then somebody 
touches the chalk. 

In the same way she sounds other words, occasionally 
making one so plain that the children ^'hear" it the 
first time. 

She selects from four to eight names from the list 
of objects previously touched, and goes over them in 
varying order, again and again. Chalk, fan, check, knee, 
book and hall were given in that second lesson. 

All of the class touched ''cheek" and "knee," individual 
children the other things. 

On the third day, the teacher repeated the naming and 
sounding things to be touched or pointed to, and added 
a third feature, i, e., training the tongue. 

"Touch your 1 — i — p." Some few do it at once; 
others imitate. When lingers are on lips, she says, 
"All sound it with me, 1 — i — p." 

They repeat it several times in concert. Then, "Who 
can do it by himself.^" she asks. If nobody is willing, 
they wait till another day. By and by they will enjoy 
sounding words. 

Every day, thereafter, two or three easy w^ords should 
be sounded by the class and by a few individual children. 
By the end of the week every child will feel sufficiently 
at home to point to or touch anything in the room, when 
the name is pronounced, and that feature may be dis- 
continued. It served the purpose of* directing attention 
to objects whose names were soon to be sounded, and 
thus paved the way to recognizing them. 

Recognizing the words which the teacher sounds and 
sounding them in concert and singly, should receive some 
attention for many weeks. The teacher will find it 
convenient to make lists of available words, in order to 
have them at her tongue's end during the tw^o or three 

68 



minutes drill. To facilitate thinking of them, they may 
be grouped under such heads as: 
(i) Things in sight: 

(a) Objects in the schoolroom; desk, book, etc. 

(b) Parts of the body; chin, wrist, tongue. 

This makes a brisk little rest exercise: "Touch your 
n — o — se; your t — oe — s; your h — ea — d; your 
h — ee — 1. Show me your f — i — st; your t — ung 
(tongue) ; your (w)r — i — st." 

(c) Things to wear: coat, ring, beads. 

(d) Fabrics, metals: silk, wool, gold, tin, glass. 

(e) Colors: red, black. 

(d) and (e) combine language works in this way 

Review Lesson 

Teacher: Who can touch something that is r - e - d.^ 
James. Something made of s — i — 1 — k.^ Maud, 
Something made of w — oo — d .^ Tom. 

(James holds a ball; Maud has her finger on Mabel's 
hair ribbon; and Tom's hand is on the blackboard ledge.) 

Teacher: Tell me your stories (nodding to each in 
turn). 

James : My ball is red. 

Maud: Mabel's hair-ribbon is made of silk. 

Tom: The blackboard ledge is made of wood, 

(2) Things out of sight. 

(a) Anything outside of the schoolroom. "I am 
thinking of a r — o — se; a f — i — sh; a c — a — ke." 

(b) A wonderbox. 

This is a pasteboard box containing objects with short 
phonetic names. It is called a wonderbox, because the 
children w^onder what is in it. It may contain a nail, 
tack, match, pin, chalk, nut, bean, doll, top, etc. 

One box held a toy duck, fish, frog, and a mouse that 
could run. 

69 



The wonderbox is used in the sharp ears game: 

Teacher (peeping in the box) : Don't you wonder 
what is in this box? There is a m — ou — sel If you 
can whisper the name to me, you take out whatever it 
is and show it to the class. 

(This is a test of individual children. The word is to 
be pronounced in a whisper, not sounded. Several chil- 
dren try to give some of the sounds, but who evidently 
do not know the word. Then one whispers ^'mouse", 
and proudly holds up the toy. 

Another form of the game is for a child to select what 
he would like to take from the wonderbox, sound its 
name, and if the class recognize it, he may take the toy 
to his desk.) 

(3) Things to do. 

These are one-word sentence commands used in sug- 
gestive Lesson III. Action Words. 

The teacher sounds the imperative verb, if the child 
knows what it tells him to do, he does it, then pronounces 
the word. 

A list of such words are run, jump, play, clap, how, hop, 
skip, sit, stand, zvalk, march, nod, sleep, fan, wave. 

Play may, for convenience, mean to play upon some 
instrument, as a violin, piano, or horn, or the child may 
play ball or bean bag. 

March may be to walk with measured step, pretending 
to carry a gun. The word should have three parts 
m — ar — ch. 

Wave may be to wave the hand, a hat, a handkerchief 
or a flag. 

Two or three of these action words may be introduced 
into the third lesson in phonics, the number depending 
upon the responsiveness of the children. In the third 
lesson it may chance that a timid child w^ill obey the 
command "Touch a book"; one more self-possessed will 
bring some ch — al — k to the teacher; and a lively 
youngster will gladly r — u — n all around the room. 

70 



Initials 

There Is nothing so effective in teaching the sounds of 
the individual letters as using the initials of pupils' 
first names. ^ 

The work in phonics may begin with that instead of 
with sounding words. 

Introductory Lesson 

"Everybody has a name-i-owW," says the teacher, 
"if your ears are sharp you will hear it when the name 
is spoken. I will make the sound very clearly for you. 
Al — ary" (sounding "m" and pronouncing the rest of 
the word). "L — ouis; S — adie." 

"Now I will see if they know their own name-sounds. 
I'll call them by their wdimt- sounds instead of their names. 
Come to me, L — " (sounding 1). Louis does not under- 
stand. "Come to me, L — ouis: I wanted you to come 
when I sounded / — ", she kindly explains, when he 
comes to her, and sends him back to his seat. "Come to 
me L — ". This time he comes forward promptly. 

"Come to me S — ". Sadie starts doubtfully, but the 
teacher nods, and she skips forward. 

"Come to me, M — ". Alary does not "hear" her 
name-sound. So the whole name is given as with Louis. 
Then all three are called again in a different order. Still 
Alary does not recognize "Nl — "as hers. 

"Does anybody know who 'Al — ' is.^" she asks. 
Several think they do. 

"Jessie, you may touch 'Al — '." Jessie promptly 
touches Mary. 

"Now tell her name-sound to her." "A^I — ", says 
Jessie. 

Day by day, other name-sounds are added. The 
discovery is made that several have the same name- 

71 



sound. L — oiils, L — ena and L — ouise, all have "1". 
Edward and Elsie have ''e". Instead of calling them 
to her as at first, the teacher says. 'When I give your 
name-sound, how to me, and give the sound yourself". 
So when she sounds "j", John bows to her and sounds 

"Who can be teacher and call children.?" is the next 
step and is taken before all of the children's initials 
are given. 

Playing Teacher 

Here is a variation of being teacher. Instead of stand- 
ing in front of the class, Frank goes to Herbert's desk 
and sounds "h"; Herbert rises, bows and sounds '^f". 

Any time during the day the teacher may suddenly 
call somebody's name-sound, whereupon, he should rise, 
bow, and sound it back to her. 

In no other way will the sounds or letters be learned 
so quickly and thoroughly, because the children want 
'to learn them. It is so interesting to call and be called 
by name-sounds. 

The kind of work suggested should be continued in 
decreasing amount throughout the year. Indeed, the 
second grade may profitably call each other by name- 
sounds and use the wonderbox occasionally. Although 
the work extends through a year or more, most of it 
begins during the first few weeks. 

Two great advantages in oral work are these: The 
mind is free to dwxll on the sound; and there is a wide 
range of words, for all spoken words are phonetic. Tongue 
is easier to sound than hand, for it has only two parts, 
for ung like ing and ight should be taught as a unit", 
there are no silent letters to remember when "spelling 
by sound". 

Every word should not be resolved into all of its 

72 



phonetic elements, str — ap Instead ofs — t — r — a — p 
should be used occasionally. 

III. Associating Sound and Symbols 

During the second week, sounds may be associated 
with letters. An easy, pleasant way is to extend the use 
of the children's initials. 

The chalk has been talking to them, they have learned 
that John stands for the name of a boy, and will readily 
accept the fact that ^'j" stands for his name-sound. 

Be careful to call them name-sounds, never initials, 
for the child's initials must be written with capitals, 
but his name-sound with small letters, because the letters 
are to be combined Into words. 

Name-sound may appear In script even though print 
only has been used for words. If the name-sounds are 
in script, each child learns to write his own, then those 
of some of his playmates, and lo! some fair day he com- 
bines those written name-sounds into a word. He may 
have already seen script words as wholes, but now he 
approaches from a different angle, he thinks of the sounds 
of the letters and this Increases his power to blend and 
so discover pronunciation for himself. 

Suggestive Lesson. Written Letters 

''S", calls the teacher, giving the sound. 

^^S", replies Sara, bowing. 

''This Is the way your name-sound looks," writing 
s. "N", she calls; "n" responds Nora; and n is writ- 
ten under s. "L" brings the same sound from Louis, 
Lena, and Louise, and / Is written under the other two. 

Then the letters are scattered about the board, hunted, 
underlined, sounded, and erased, just as words are studied. 
Each child will remember his own letter and will be 
charmed to point it out to the other children! 

73 



Suggestive Lesson. Written Words 

*^Come, Paul, Alice and Nora," says the teacher. Plac- 
ing the three in that order, facing the class, she stands 
back of them, and tapping each lightly on the head, gives 
the name-sound, blending the three. 

"F — a — n," she sounds several times. 

'Tan," exclaim the children. "Here it is," writing 
pan, not p — a — n. 

The children then spell the word by sound as she 
indicates the letters. ''Roy, take Paul's place," the 
teacher directs, then she sounds r — a — n, and writes 
it under pan. "Tommy, take Nora's place," then the 
word becomes r — a — t. Paul comes back and takes 
Roy's place; now the sounds are p — a — t. 

"Edward, take Alice's place," and p — e — t is the 
result. There are now in the column five words, pa7i, 
ran, rat, pat, pet. The lesson closed with volunteers 
trying to pronounce any or all of the words. If a child 
could pronounce a word at sight he proudly did so, if 
not, he gladly "made the letters tell him the word." 

There was no desire for the children to remember the 
words; it was an exercise leading tow^ard automatic pro- 
nunciation. In time the children pronounce a new pho- 
netic word at sight without knowing why they are able 
to do so. 

After a day or two, associating letters with children 
is dropped, but lively drills on words and phonograms 
continue. 

From time to time, new phonograms are taught. They 
may be single letters, digraphs or groups of letters used 
as a phonetic unit; ight and old are both phonograms 
when considered as parts of words, though ''ight" has no 
meaning and "old" is a word in itself. 

The children's initials never furnish the whole alphabet, 
but they afford such a solid foundation for associating 

74 



sound and symbol that other ways serve quite as well 
for the rest of the letters. 

It is not necessary to use the same plan to teach all of 
the letters; variety rather helps than hinders. 

Phonograms may be taught 

(i) By initials of type words, as used in the Primer. 

(2) By the initials of children. 

(3) By the use of pictures to suggest certain sounds. 

(4) By simply giving a sound and the symbol for it. 
The teacher who wisely uses all of these has four 

helpers Instead of one or two. 

Pictures 

A word about the use of pictures to suggest sounds. 

Mother Hubbard's dog "rides a goat" and "reads the 
news", and if the teacher Welshes him to do so, he will 
growl "r". And all three acts are equally interesting to 
the child. Just so the cat "visits the queen", and becom- 
ing cross, says "f". A goose will stretch Its long neck 
and say "th" as in thin; the child who never saw a live 
goose will enjoy looking at the picture and drawing the 
stencil. 

A cow may say "m"; and a bee "z". 

Certain sounds may be suggested without pictures. 
"H" is the tired letter, w^hen a child has run till he is 
out of breath, he says, "h, h, h." 

"Sh" says be still, and is suggested by a quieting ges- 
ture; "ch" is a sneeze (a breath, not choo). 

"Wh" blows out a candle, and is suggested by blowing 
a candle represented by a finger. 

There is on the market a set of phonetic cards bearing 
pictures which represent sounds. They are the work of 
a primary teacher who found pictures so helpful that 
she gradually perfected the set. 

The editor of a primary paper, referring to certain 

75 



devices, recently said, "The intuitions of a sympathetic 
mother or teacher may come nearer a psychological 
truth than the keen reasoning of a great thinker. 

"This thought is very comforting, especially if we be- 
lieve with Bergson that we may pass from intuition to 
intelligence but never from intelligence to intuition". 

Pictures to suggest sounds may seem absurd to grown- 
ups, but many children find them "easv steps for little 
feet." 

Phonic Drill Cards. Sets One and Two 

The Child Classics phonetic drill cards are treasures 
in teaching phonics. Edward's initial is the same as 
that of engine, and so of other name-sounds and initial 
card words. Pass from the children's name-sounds to 
the initial words; the words will fill the gaps where 
there is no name-sound. 

One difficulty in using children's initials should be 
frankly met, that is how to deal with names like Ernest, 
Charles, Theodore, Charlotte and Genevieve. 

Er, ch, and th may represent the first three name- 
sounds; but the others defy satisfactory solution. The 
children may be told that their name-sounds are too 
hard to use, which will disappoint them, and leave them 
out of the game. Or, ch, g may be used, and the children 
told that they do not sound as they seem to. Or, 
since the sounds are sh and j, they may be written in 
that way, and when the time comes for the child to 
write his name, explain: It sounds like sh but in your 
name it is written ch. 

During the first year the child should readily learn 
those elementary sounds and combinations of sounds 
which are most used; this includes the letters of the alpha- 
bet with the long and short sounds of the vowels, and 
both sounds of c, s and g and such combinations as oi, oy, 
021, ow, and both long and short oo. 

76 



IV. Special Drills for Automatic Pronunciation 

Children learn to read by reading — the right kind of 
reading in the right way. By that same rule, they learn to 
pronounce by pronouncing! 

Just as they begin to get thought as soon as they know 
a few words to arrange in sentences, so they begin to 
build words as soon as they know a few sounds which 
may be combined. 

Building words may begin as in Suggestive Lesson, 
Written Words, or the teacher may take some phono- 
gram as a7i and use analogy as suggested in the Primer, 

(pages 56-58). ^ . 1 u .u T^ 

Write an four or hve times, one under the other. ^ iveep 
the first for the family name, and one by one write m, 
r, f, before the others, blending each as the letter is 
prefixed. It matters little w^hich plan' is used first. 

One fact should be noted: The fewer the parts to 
blend, the quicker the recognition, thus sp — in has two 
p^j.^s s — p — i — n has four, therefore, steadily tend 
toward using large sound units. Wlien a child knows 
''in", he does not need to sound i — n, any more. 

The phonetic elements must be thoroughly learned for 
use in unfamiliar combinations; but as soon as possible 
begin using phonograms like sp, cl, fr and others, as well 
as familv names like in and ed. 

Use phonetic Primer words as the first members ot 
families and teach by analogy, pointing out the family 
name, i. e., the basic phonogram, later. 

Use impartially words with either the short or long 
sound of vowels, as rnn, fun, Kate, late. 

The effect of the final "e" may be taught easily, also 
certain digraphs which stand for the long sound of vowels 



''av" and ^'oa" 



In all the following cases the first vowel says its own 
name (or long sound): 



11 



a. 


.e, 


ai, ay 




ee, 


ea: 


i. 


.e, 


ie : 


o 


.e, 


oa: 


u 


.e 





Kate, sail, play, 
see, eat. 
ride, pie. 
rope, goat, 
tune. 

The pupils should learn them all, both standing alone 
and when in words. 

Many of these may be illustrated by writing pairs of 
words as, ran, rain; met, meet, meat; got, goat; cub, cube. 
When a new word appears in the Primer lesson, for 
instance ''ride", the teacher may place it on the board 
and under it write ''side" and "wide", then sound them 
herself, using "ide" as the unit, r -^ ide. 

Ball is taught as a sight word, but after a time it may 
be grouped with "call", "fall", etc., and the phonogram 
all pointed out. 

Short and long "oo" are emphasized when the right 
words come. With good, group wood and stood; with 
too, group choo, tools, shoot, toot and whoop and teach 
long "oo"; later group several "oo" fa?nilies as shoot, 
boot; tool, cool. 

The goal is to pronounce easily, correctly and quickly 
and to learn to do so as quickly as possible. 

Suggestive Lesson. Dictating Words by Sound 

"Write these letters one under the other," says the 
teacher to the three or four children at the blackboard 
whom the rest of the class are to watch. Then she sounds : 
a, n, r, m, c. All of the class have written single letters 
before so they do it quickly. 

"Now erase," she continues, "and write 'a', 'n', side 
by side, this time, holding each other's hands" (joined 
together). 

When an is written the children sound and pronounce 
it. 

78 



"Join the letters. Don't lift the chalk till the word is 
finished". 

Then the teacher slowly sounds r — a — n, pausing 
between each sound till the letter is written. 

"What is the word.^" she asks. If no one knows, they 
sound it in concert. In the same way m — a — n, and 
c — a — n are sounded and written letter by letter. 
Then the whole class go to the board and the lesson is 
repeated that the children may do what they saw done. 

A second step is to dictate a family name, as e — d. 
The children WTite it and place the rest of the family under 
it, as the teacher dictates r — ed, f — ed, etc., that is, 
they think of "ed" as a whole. 

A third step is to give a family name as "ee", and then 
pronounce words as in written spelling, as see, tree, three. 

A fourth step coming after the class is familiar with 
the others is to have the pupils group words as the}^ 
write them. The teacher dictates pin, pan, the child 
WTites them in different columns; then tin and fiji are 
placed under pin, then old is written in a third column 
followed by pmi WTitten in the second. This step should 
be preceded by two games, one being oral the other 
seat work. 

I. Which Does it Rhyme With? 

The teacher writes two phonograms as og and ay, 
and explains, "I am going to pronounce words which 
sound like these family names. When one word sounds 
like another we say it rhymes with it. 

"When I give a word, you tell me whether it rhymes 
with og or ay^ 

Then she pronounces log, lay, day, dog, frog, say, etc. 

The children give the family name and repeat the 
word the teacher pronounces, as og, log; ay, lay. 

A variation of the game is for the teacher to tell a 

79 



story, and at intervals instead of pronouncing certain 
words, she writes them on the board for the children to 
pronounce, and then continues with the story. 

In the following, the italicized words are written as 
they occur in the jingle, the children eagerly pronouncing 
them : 

A pert little frog 

Sat under a log 

And would not come out 

For fear of the 



The dog said, "Bow-wow 
Oh, do come out now,^^ 
'T won't", said the frog, 
''So don't make a row." 



2. Sending Word Children Home 

*'Here are some tents," says the teacher, drawing three 
triangles, "all on the same street," drawing a broad 
chalkline under them. "Here are some word children 
out at play. You must decide where they live and send 
them home. If there are not tents enough, it is because 
some child does not live on this street." Then she writes 
light, fan, tight, red, pan, bed, boy. When the work is 
done, there are two word children by each tent, and one 
"boy", standing by himself because he does not live on 
that street. ^ Long before this stage is reached Italian 
children would be happily writing any word or thought 
that pleased them. But unfortunate little Americans 
in the primary grade can never do that, because such 
spelling as air, bear, care, and there rises like a barrier to 
free written expression of thought. So the teacher must 
give the family name, for the child would logically write 
^'See mee in a tree." 

Pleasant work with many phonograms trains the 

80 



children to "make the letters tell them the words." They 
recite a little jingle: 

"O, you little fairies, 

Say your sounds to me, 

Tell me very quickly 

What this word may be!" 
The teacher draws a ladder to the sky (the top of the 
blackboard) where twinkle yellow stars (three crossed 
chalklines). Beside the ladder are written new or un- 
familiar phonetic words; and the child who climbs the 
ladder writes his name among the stars. 

V. Relation of Phonics to Thought 

Primers based on phonics are apt to sacrifice thought 
to the use of phonetic words. Primers based on literature 
are prone to sacrifice word-mastery to the thought in a 
single lesson; reading one lesson helps very little in read- 
ing the next, the child for a long time must be dependent. 

The Child Classics Primer by using few and largely 
phonetic words in many interesting and thought giving 
lessons strikes a golden mean. 

Words, like fire, are good servants but bad masters. 
There can not be too great a facility in pronouncing 
words so'long as those words are used in getting thought. 
It is a question of: 

'Work while you work 
And play while you play." 

Study with might and main w^hile you do study words, 
with an eye single to making form suggest pronunciation 
and meaning. Then use them to get beautiful, interesting 
thought. 

The fat - cat - sat - on - the - mat type of sentence 
has a rightful niche in the process of learning to read. 

When children know the phonograms all, ed, and ay, 

8i 



they will enjoy an occasional lesson made up of such 
sentences as: 

The ball hit the wall in the hall. 

Ted, Ned, and Fred had a red sled. 

And such groups of sentences as the Child Classics 
First Reader suggests: 

''One day little May went out to play. 

In the field where she lay on the hay was a jay. 

He was very, very gay. 

For his song he asked no pay. 

To be happy was his way. 

'What do you say.?' asked little May." 

Such "family gatherings" appeal to the children. And 
when they meet members of the families in stories like 
Aladdin and King Alfred and the Cakes, they need spend 
no time in getting acquainted with them. 

Phonics emphasizes form and pronunciation, rather 
than meaning of words. 

The meaning belongs more to reading and language 
lessons. 

Phonics takes care of form and pronunciation of 
words, leaving the child free to get and express the 
meaning of sentences. 

Some teachers advise not to give words which children 
do not understand, and to make sure they do understand, 
require the words to be used in sentences. 

If drill were to be confined to words that all of the 
pupils understand, the range would be very narrow. If 
to words that some understand then most of the class 
would pronounce words they didn't know. 

A child who has lived near the river would understand 
"snag", another from a difi"erent environment would 
know "coke", and to a third "pike" would be simple; 
while to the rest of the school those words would be 
meaningless. 



82 



It Is impracticable to put every word In a sentence for 
tAVO reasons: 

First, there isn't time; ten words could be pronounced 
while one is being put in a sentence, and interruption 
spoils w^ord games. Where a word has two meanings 
as "nag", shall there be two sentences? Second, using 
a word in a single sentence does not insure that the thought 
is clear. To illustrate, in dramatizing, one boy was a 
horse, which another boy was to feed and water. The 
latter fed so man}' ears of corn, then began waving his 
hand to and fro about the horse. "What are you doing .'^" 
asked the teacher. "I am watering the horse^^^ he replied. 

He was sprinkling the horse with water, as though it 
w^ere a flower bed! It was the dramatizing, not the 
sentence that revealed the child's conception. 

Give plenty of thought work and the reading will 
never be word calling, no matter how many words are 
introduced into phonic drills. 

Let the child practise on many words as a musician 
practises scales In order to be able to interpret a master- 
piece. 

Suggestive Outline for Teaching Phonics 

I. Ear training — oral work. 

(i) Names of things In sight. 

(2) Names of actions. 

(3) Wonderbox. 

(4) Initials of pupils. 

II. Sound and SA'mbol — written work, 
(i) Initials of pupils, and card words. 

(2) Pictures. 

(3) Wonderbox. 

III. Blending.* 

(i) Blending words. 
(2) Phonetic dictation. 

83 



Teachers Who Must Be Self-taught 

Circumstances compel many teachers to take their 
degree in phonics at the ''University of Dig It Out 
Yourself." 

For their encouragement it may be said that some who 
have received their training in that school have no su- 
periors in teaching phonics; for their assistance some 
suggestions are given which will help them to take a 
short cut to success. The University fee is earnest work. 

If possible study phonics with some other teacher; 
the sounds must be uttered for the children and it is 
better to accustom oneself from the first to say them to 
somebody. Besides, mutual criticism helps to secure 
success. 

Children and grown people approach phonics from 
opposite directions. Children blend sounds into words; 
adults analyze words into sounds. 

Children learn by "building words"; grown people by 
"finding sounds". 

So the teacher should learn phonics by one method 
and teach it by the other. 

For her own use a teacher should have as a key a set 
of words by which to test sounds. Such a key is given 
here. In most cases to give double emphasis the word 
begins and ends with the sound of which it is the key. 
Where practicable certain sounds are paired or are grouped. 

There are two general divisions of consonants, which 
may be called breath sounds and modified voice sounds, 
thus "h" is a breath sound and "r" a modified voice. 
Some of the consonants may be arranged in pairs, because 
the vocal organs are placed in exactly the same position 
for each, the only difference being that one is made with 
the breath only, and the other with modified voice sound. 



84 







THE KEY 








VOWELS 






Long 

a 

e 

i 


. . ate 
. . eve 
. . isle 


Short 

a 

e 

i 


.at 

.edge 

.ill 


Broad 
a 


o 


. .own 


o 


.ox 




u 


. .use 


u 


. us 





CONSONANTS AND DIGRAPHS . 

Pairs 

Breath Modified voice 

f . . fife V vive 

k and c. . cake g gig 

p pip b bib 

s and c. . . sis, cell z and s....zip, is 

t tot d did 

th thin th then 

ch church j judge 

wh which w wine 



h hit 

qu. quit 

1 lull 

n nun 

y yes 



GROUPS 

Breath 

sh shy 

X fox 

Modified Voice 

m mum 

r roar 



^85 



ol, oy oil, toy; ou, ow out, owl 

er, ir, ur. .her, iir, fur. ar..arm; or. .for. au, aw. .haul, 
hawk. 

The sound of qu Is kw\ of x h ks\ c, g and s have two 
sounds; 3; has three, y in ''yes", in "my" and in "hymn"; 
c has no sound of its own, it is either k or s. Children 
should learn k^ c, and ck as identical in sound. 



., 1-, 



Phonograms and Words for Practice 

Besides the letters and digraphs in the key, practise 
on phonograms and words which may be readily used 
in school. Find and practise lists of pairs of words illus- 
trating hnal "e", "ea," etc.; also lists of words illus- 
trating such consonant combinations as bl, cl, ft, gl, pi, 
si; br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr, si, sm, sn, sp, spr, st, str, sw. 

For seat work children may be given a family name 
and the phonograms which will combine with it to make 
words. For instance, write on the board or on slips of 
paper ight, — /, /r, /, m, n, pi, r, s, si, t. 

From these the children write and pronounce ten 
words. 

The teacher may choose any family name, and to find 
quickly the phonograms to combine with it, run over the 
alphabet, remembering such combinations as /r, etc. 

An exercise which is not strictly phonetic, but which 
trains in noting phonograms, is to combine two words 
into one, and the reverse. 

The teacher may prepare a list of such words: su7i, 
rag; man, light, bag, beam, shine, fish. These will give 
six words, sunlight, sunbeam, sunshine, sunfish, ragmafi, 
ragbag. These the children pronounce sounding only to 
discover a word. • 

Just as some children are slow in number work, so 
some seem almost tone-deaf; such a child may say window 
when the teacher sounds wall. 

86 



To hear many words sounded Is the best help that 
can be given in such cases. A device for giving slow- 
children a chance in concert work is to point to but not 
touch a letter, pause for all to think, then let the pointer 
touch it with a light tap. At that signal the class gives 
the sound. 

In the drill work, sound words of more than one syllable 
very cautiously, because vowels in unaccented syllables 
become obscure. 

Teach children to see syllables, but deal with them as 
wholes when possible. Teach less, ness, ly, ny, and such 
suffixes, and form new words by adding them to other 
words. Then children will recognize them wherever 
they appear. 

Diacritic Marks 

The dictionar}^ uses diacritic marks, but also fre- 
quently respells. Such marks In primary grades are 
apt to prove a delusion and a snare. There Is no harm 
in a few carefully selected marks like a dot over the g 
which sounds like j, or a suspended bar under s like z, 
and occasionally a line through a silent letter. 

The pupils may be taught the macron over vowels, 
but it is more satisfactory to teach them to look for 
the sign, i. e., final e or at, etc. 

Some unabridged dictionaries take the short sound 
of vowels as the standard and never use a breve. W hen 
a child sees a word like met, he should be able to say 
'T know It is e (giving the short sound) because It has 
no helper; of meat or meet he w^ould say, ''E says e (long 
sound) because the a helps It, or because the twins (two 
ee^s) say that." 

Phonograms may be underscored, also new words in 
board work but there should be constant effort to teach 
the children to see them for themselves, because words 

87 



APR 14 bis 

will not be marked in their "out of school reading". 

More important than diacritic marks is teaching chil- 
dren to practise: 

"If at first you don't succeed, 
Try, try again!" 

The' child must often depend upon the context for 
pronunciation and meaning. In the sentence, "The 
sun was so hot it made him sweat", the child would 
logically pronounce sweat sweet, but the sense of the sen- 
tence forbids it, so he must "try again" because the 
little fairies do play tricks. 

Group words whenever possible as dove, love, glove, and 
shove, even though stove, rove, etc., live on another street 
and move has to go out in the wilderness! 

Teach difficult combinations as sight words, and let 
the use of diacritic marks come with taking up the 
dictionary. 

The last word about teaching phonics is this: Rest 
assured that if it is rightly taught phonics will come to 
the teacher as an assistant to relieve her of much drudgery 
and to the pupils as a teacher who is with them always. 



88 



